Switched
by Ink Outside the Lines
Summary: Inuyasha Higurashi led a normal life, at least until his fifteenth birthday. On that day he got dragged down a magic well that deposited him five hundred years in the past by a freakish bug woman, and things only got weirder from there.
1. Chapter 1

The Boy Who Overcame Time

And the Girl Who Was Just Overcome

"Kagome!"

Kagome turned her head, but had no time to respond before the arrow pierced her shoulder and pinned her to the tree. Uncomprehending, she stared up at the face of the woman she had thought of as a best friend and almost sister. The woman's face was twisted with a loathing and hatred that Kagome had never expected to see on her.

"Kikyo?" Kagome whispered. "But I don't—understand."

Her consciousness slipped away from her, and Kagome's world faded into black.

* * *

Inuyasha Higurashi stepped out of his house and stretched in the fresh morning air. It was a perfect day, bright and sunny, the kind he liked best. Days like this got him itching to do something, anything, that would get his blood racing and his heart pounding. Inuyasha grinned as a breeze teased his shoulder length black hair. Days like this were made for adventures.

_And I have to waste it going to school._ His grin dropped and his shoulders sagged at the thought. It just didn't seem fair, especially since it was his birthday too.

"Later, Mom, later Gramps," he called over his shoulder. "I'm off!"

He'd only taken a few steps when the sight of Souta hanging out at the well house's doorway caught his eye. "Oi, brat!" Inuyasha called. "What are you doing over there? You know you're not allowed in the well house."

Souta sent him a pleading look. "But Inuyasha! I think Buyo is down there!"

Inuyasha sighed heavily and walked over to join his brother. "Then go get him. He shouldn't be down there either."

Souta gulped and eyed the dark staircase that lead into the shadowy recesses of the well house. "Why do I have to be the one to go get him?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and affectionately rapped the back of Souta's head with his knuckles. "'Cause you're the one looking for him, brat. But if you're too much of a scaredy cat, then I'll go instead."

Inuyasha tromped down the stairs, eyes roaming the shadows for a hint of Buyo. As much as Inuyasha liked the old cat, he could be a real pain sometimes.

_Skriiitch, skriiitch._

Inuyasha paused at the unexpected sound, like rats scampering around on wood. His scowl deepened and he crossed his arms over his chest. _Weird. That sounded like it came from inside the well._

But the well was sealed up, so there was no way that Buyo should be down there. The sound came again, raising the hair on the back of Inuyasha's neck. Something pressed against his leg and Inuyasha jerked away with a strangled gasp. Souta up at the top of the stairs fell back with a high pitched yelp.

"Meow."

Inuyasha felt his eyebrow twitch as he glared down at Buyo's serene expression. "Stupid cat," he grumbled picking him up off the floor.

"What was with freaking out like that, Mr. I'm-So-Brave?" Souta demanded pointing down at him.

Inuyasha glared up at him. "Says the brat who wouldn't even come down the stairs! And I wasn't freaking out!"

Before he could start back up the stairs there was a sharp crack of splintering wood, and a malevolent presence wrapped around Inuyasha, freezing him in place. _What is this?_

Souta's eyes widened in fear and Inuyasha felt a rush of wind at his back as the cover of the well burst open. Hands like vices grasped Inuyasha's arms as Buyo slid from his grip and dragged him back into the well.

The hands flipped Inuyasha around so he could see his attacker, and he found himself staring at a pair of large, bare breasts. This would have been the best moment in all his fifteen years of life if those breasts hadn't been attached to a body that also had six arms and the bottom half of a centipede.

"The jewel," the woman hissed with a strange, breathy voice. "You have it. Give it to me!" Her tongue, longer than humanly possible, snaked out of her mouth and licked his cheek. This contact finally snapped Inuyasha out of his shocked stupor.

"Get off me, you freak!" Inuyasha shouted. He lashed out with his fist, a solid punch that connected squarely with the bug woman's jaw. A brilliant pink light flashed and the woman shrieked with pain. When the light faded she was gone, and suddenly Inuyasha's feet were settling on the ground at the bottom of the well.

"The heck was that?" he asked out loud. Inuyasha rubbed his eyes. He could not have seen what he thought he just saw. Freakish bug women didn't exist! It was impossible. "Maybe I hit my head really hard when I landed." He glanced around and saw a pale woman's arm that was badly burned at the stump lying near him. Inuyasha gaped at the appendage for a moment. "Okay, maybe not."

But either way, the bug woman was gone now, and Inuyasha didn't feel like sticking around at the bottom of the well waiting for her to come back. Inuyasha tilted his head back and called, "Hey, Souta! Get Gramps for me!"

There was no reply, and Inuyasha blinked in surprise when he realized that where he should be seeing the wooden ceiling of the well house, he was staring up at blue sky. "But that doesn't make any sense!"

He shook his head. He'd figure out what was going on after he got out of the well, and apparently Souta wasn't going to be any help on that end. "Little brat. He probably ran away in fear or something."

There were vines growing down the inside of the well that Inuyasha could use to help pull himself up. As he was climbing, it occurred to him that there were no plants growing in the well house, so these vines really shouldn't be there.

"Worry about it after you get out," he muttered to himself.

Inuyasha made it to the top of the well and what he saw stunned him into silence. It wasn't just the roof of the well house that was missing; it was the well house itself, the shrine's courtyard, his house, everything. It was all gone. In its place was a vast forest.

"This is not happening," Inuyasha said, frantically searching for any familiar landmark. He caught sight of the Sacred Tree in the distance, and relief shot through him. "I'll be able to find my way home from there," he said shoving his way through the undergrowth of the forest to get to the tree.

When he finally made it to the miniature clearing that held the Sacred Tree, Inuyasha froze. Pinned to the tree by an arrow was a girl who looked to be about his age. She wore strange, old fashioned looking red clothes, and her long hair was a shimmering silver color. Matching silver dog ears sat on top of her head. Her expression was so peaceful that, if it weren't for the arrow, he would have thought she was only sleeping.

But she had a freaking _arrow_ sticking out of her!

Inuyasha rushed over, hopping up on some of the raised tree roots so he was level with the girl. He pressed his fingers to her neck searching for a pulse and felt panic rising when he couldn't find one. "Please don't be dead," he muttered. Even without a pulse, she didn't really feel dead. Her skin was still warm and soft. Inuyasha held his ears over her mouth, listening for her breath, but he couldn't hear that either.

Inuyasha swore. Warm body or not, he didn't see how she could still be alive since she didn't have a pulse and didn't seem to be breathing. "I need to get her down from here," he said and he reached out for the arrow that held her in place.

Arrows thudded into the tree beside him and Inuyasha flinched away. "Get away from there!" a man's voice yelled.

Inuyasha whirled around and saw six men with bows and arrows glaring at him. His fists clenched and his lips pulled back in a snarl as he stared at the bows. "Are you the scum that murdered this girl?" he snapped.

They didn't answer, but their glares intensified. "Get away from her, or we will shoot," said one man that was apparently the group's leader.

Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to pound the man's face into the dirt. How could they do that? Just murder this girl and then leave her hanging like some sort of twisted trophy? If they hadn't had arrows pointed at him he'd have done it too. He'd been taking martial arts classes since the time he could walk it seemed, and even at six on one odds Inuyasha was fairly confident that he could take them if they had been unarmed. But since they had bows, one of them was bound to shoot him before he could do any real damage. With no real alternative, Inuyasha stepped away from the tree.

One of the men rushed forward and tied Inuyasha's hands securely behind his back. The ropes weren't tied so tight as to be painful, but he definitely wasn't getting out of them on his own. The men shoved him forward, and the group walked in silence away from the tree.

After only a few minutes of walking they were out of the forest and approaching a small village. The sight was so unexpected that Inuyasha forgot his anger for a moment. The village was composed of a small grouping of thatched huts surrounded by rice paddies. All in all, it looked like a picture from a history textbook.

_What it this supposed to be? The Feudal Era?_

The thought made him glance around at his captors, and Inuyasha finally noticed how they all wore old fashioned clothes, and each had a topknot on their head.

_Oh. Oh crap._

This _couldn't_ be what he was thinking. It just couldn't. Time travel wasn't possible.

_Neither was that freaky bug woman, and she was definitely real._

And time travel would explain why his home and the entire city of Tokyo had disappeared. Matter of fact, if he really had gone back in time this tiny village was probably the start of Tokyo.

_But if I've really gone back in time, how do I get home?_

* * *

Kaede walked sedately through the crowd that had gathered around the stranger some of the villagers had captured in Kagome's Forest. Her good eye narrowed when she caught sight of the stranger for the first time. He was taller than her, with black hair that curled around the collar of his shirt. His clothes were strange, dyed black and made of a material she didn't recognize. They were far more fitted than anything Kaede was used to seeing. But the young man's most striking feature was his eyes. Dark purple, they flashed with an inner fire and defiance.

Kaede dipped the branch she carried in a mixture of purified water and salt and splashed it on him. "Demon, be gone!"

The boy flinched at the contact, but there was no sizzling like there should have been, nor did he drop his human guise as a fox demon playing a trick would have.

"Stop it, you old hag!" the boy snapped. "I'm not a demon!"

"So I see," Kaede said, lowering her branch. If the boy was a demon he should have been purified by the water.

"Is he a spy then?" one of the villagers asked.

"If so he's a foolish one," Kaede said. "There is nothing here worth conquering."

But there was something about the boy that seemed familiar. Not his looks; she'd never seen anyone that looked quite like him before. It was something about his expression and his spirit that tugged at old memories in her mind.

_Who is this boy?_

Kaede caught his chin in her hand so she could study him better. "Look clever boy, or be a halfwit," she said.

Anger flashed in his eyes and he tried to jerk away from her hand, only to be held in place by two of the village men. "Who are you calling a halfwit, hag?"

_There._

She could feel it in him, raw power, unused and untested. Kaede hadn't felt power like that in fifty years.

_Could this possibly be?_

"It's there, though I don't know what it means," Kaede said letting go of his chin. "What is your name, boy?"

"Inuyasha," he said.

"I am Kaede, the priestess of this village," she said.

His eyes narrowed. "Then are you the one who ordered that girl in the forest murdered?" he asked.

Kaede frowned. "In all my life, there has never been a murder committed in this village."

"Lady Kaede," said one of the villagers who had captured Inuyasha, "I think he is speaking of Kagome. He was by her tree when we found him."

Ah, that. To someone who didn't know the story, it probably would look like a murder. "That was no murder, and she is not truly dead," Kaede said. "If you will come with me, I will explain it to you."

Inuyasha eyed her suspiciously for a moment, and then nodded. "Okay."

"Untie him please," Kaede said. Swiftly one of the villagers undid the ropes binding his hands. Kaede turned and started walking towards her hut. She didn't bother to see if Inuyasha was following. Already, her mind was fifty years in the past.

* * *

Inuyasha followed the old priestess back to her hut where she motioned for him to have a seat on the wooden floor. Inuyasha sat and watched as she started pulling out vegetables to chop for what looked like some sort of stew.

"Well?" Inuyasha asked as she remained silent. "What happened with that girl?"

"Kagome," Kaede said, "is a half-breed. She is half human, half demon. Fifty years ago, she attacked my village in search of the Shikon Jewel, which my elder sister was supposed to protect. In the battle that followed, my sister sealed Kagome to the tree with a sacred arrow, but she suffered her own mortal wound and died after doing so."

Inuyasha frowned. He vaguely remembered Gramps mentioning the Shikon Jewel in some of his ramblings, but he couldn't remember what was supposed to be so special about it. All in all, the priestess's story seemed outlandish to the point of ridiculousness.

_Then again, I'm the one who traveled through time. Guess I can't call anything impossible._

"She's seriously been stuck to that tree for fifty years?" Inuyasha questioned as Kaede poured the vegetables into her pot of stew.

"Indeed," Kaede said. "And should remain there for all time thanks to my sister's spell."

Inuyasha frowned thoughtfully. _She's not there in the future, so apparently she gets free at some point._

Well, he supposed it wasn't any of his business. Still. The girl's expression had been so peaceful, it was hard for Inuyasha to picture her attacking a village like Kaede said.

"Where do you come from, Inuyasha?" Kaede asked.

"Huh? Oh, Tokyo," Inuyasha said.

"Tokyo," Kaede said, carefully pronouncing the word. "I've never heard of it. Is it far?"

Inuyasha rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, you could say that. I really need to be getting back."

_Although I've no idea how._

"The sun is already setting," Kaede said dishing him out a bowl of stew. "Stay here for the night and you may leave in the morning if you wish."

Inuyasha accepted the bowl gratefully as his stomach rumbled in hunger. He hadn't eaten since that morning. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

He took a bite and was surprised to find the old woman was actually a good cook. He dug into the food with gusto. Before he was even half finished with his bowl, there was a crash from outside, quickly followed by screams. Inuyasha started, dropping his bowl. "What was that?"

Kaede didn't answer as she was already rushing for the door. Inuyasha scrambled to follow her. When they got outside, his eyes widened.

_It's the bug woman!_

"Mistress Centipede!" one of the villagers yelled.

"Lady Kaede," another villager called running up to them, "we've tried arrows and spears, but nothing is working!"

Inuyasha watching in horror as her body twisted and lashed out, destroying another house. _This is my fault. I led her here._

Mistress Centipede's eyes landed on Inuyasha. "The jewel!" she hissed. "Give it to me!"

Kaede's one good eye bored into him. "The jewel? You have it still?"

"I don't know what she's talking about!" Inuyasha protested. But even so, it was his fault she was here. He had to do something. Too bad his martial arts classes had never covered fighting giant centipede women.

"I'll lead her away from the village!" Inuyasha called to Kaede and took off running back towards the forest. Just as he'd hoped, Mistress Centipede followed him.

_Great. I've got her attention, so now what? I could really use some help now!_

* * *

In Kagome's Forest, at the Sacred Tree, there was a pulse of power like a heartbeat.

_Ba-bump. Ba-bump._

For the first time in fifty years, golden eyes blinked open. Slowly, Kagome lifted her head.

"Kikyo?" she whispered.

* * *

Inuyasha wasn't able to keep as much distance between himself and Mistress Centipede as he would have liked, but he'd made it out to the forest without her catching him. She lunged for him, hitting the ground just behind his feet. The impact caused a shower of earth that flung Inuyasha farther into the forest and landed him hard on the ground.

"You're not Kikyo! Who are you?"

Blinking, Inuyasha looked up and saw Kagome frowning down at him from where she was pinned on the Sacred Tree. "You're awake?" Was that supposed to happen? He didn't think so from what Kaede had said.

"Who are you?" Kagome repeated. "And why do you smell so much like Kikyo?"

"Inuyasha," he said getting to his feet. "And who the heck is Kikyo?"

Mistress Centipede burst through the trees, and Inuyasha whirled around, cursing himself for letting his guard down. His sensei would trounce him if he knew about the slip up.

"The jewel! Give it to me!" she screeched.

"You're starting to sound like a broken record, lady," Inuyasha said, backing away from her a few steps.

Moving with a speed that belied her size, Mistress Centipede lunged forward and snatched Inuyasha up off the ground. Bearing wicked looking teeth, she leaned down towards his struggling form.

"Get off of me!" he shouted, trying to twist out of her grasp. That pink light flared again like in the well, and the next thing Inuyasha knew he had fallen back to the ground, and Mistress Centipede was screeching over the loss of her remaining five arms.

_Did _I _do that?_

Kaede and some of the villagers rode up on horses and paused staring wide eyed at the scene. The villagers cried out in alarm.

"Kagome's awake!"

"Mistress Centipede's arms!"

"Look out, she's attacking again!"

Undeterred by the loss of her arms, Mistress Centipede shot down and her teeth sank into Inuyasha's side and threw him into the air.

Numbly, Inuyasha stared at a perfectly round pink jewel that flew in the air beside him. _That's the jewel? It was inside me?_

Then he hit the ground and pain lanced through his whole body radiating from the gash in his side. Before he could struggle to his feet, Mistress Centipede used her tail to trap him against the Sacred Tree, his face pressed into Kagome's stomach.

Mistress Centipede leaned down towards the jewel, and Kagome yelled, "Don't you dare touch that!"

Mistress Centipede paused and glanced over at them scornfully. "I had heard of a half-breed that was seeking the Shikon Jewel. What do you think you can do?"

Kagome's lips pulled back in a snarl revealing too sharp canine teeth, and her dog ears flattened back on her head. "Inuyasha," she said, "you think you can pull this arrow out of me?"

Inuyasha blinked, the pain in his side making it harder than usual to think. "What?"

"Pull the arrow out!" she snapped.

"No, Inuyasha!" Kaede shouted. "You must not free Kagome!"

"She's going to kill you!" Kagome yelled. "Let me help!"

Torn by indecision, Inuyasha watched as Mistress Centipede scooped up the jewel with her tongue and swallowed it. His eyes widened when her severed arms flew back to her body and reattached themselves. Her jaws opened wide, and her skin peeled away to reveal a hideous red and black under layer.

Inuyasha made a decision, and reaching up he grasped the arrow that held Kagome pinned. At his first tug, the arrow disintegrated into nothingness.

Without quite knowing how it happened, Inuyasha found himself sprawled on the ground again, Kagome facing off against Mistress Centipede a few feet away. "Insolent wretch," Mistress Centipede hissed.

Kagome flexed her fingers, bringing Inuyasha's attention to the wicked looking claws that tipped them. "Return the jewel!"

"Who will make me? You?" Mistress Centipede asked, and lunged for her.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"

Kagome's movements were a red blur. Inuyasha didn't see exactly what Kagome did, but suddenly bloody chunks of centipede were falling to the ground. Inuyasha stared at Kagome in awe. Yes, she was a half demon, but Inuyasha still hadn't expected her to be so strong.

"Inuyasha, quickly," Kaede said. "Find the glowing flesh before she regenerates! That's where the jewel will be."

Inuyasha heeded her words. The last thing he wanted was to face Mistress Centipede again. "There!" he said pointing when he saw a faint pink glow coming from a hunk of flesh. "The jewel is there!"

Kaede moved quickly for someone her age, reaching into the flesh and feeling around for the jewel. Inuyasha almost gagged at the sight. He didn't consider himself a squeamish person, but that was just gross.

Kaede pulled the jewel out of the flesh, and Inuyasha blinked as Mistress Centipede's body disintegrated, leaving only the bones. She walked over to Inuyasha and dropped the jewel into his hands. "Here. This belongs to you now."

"Me?" Inuyasha said. "What am I supposed to do with it?"

"Nothing," Kagome said, stepping closer. "Humans can't use it. It's no good to you." She held out one of her dangerously clawed hands. "Why don't you just hand it over?"

Inuyasha stared at her and her determined golden glare. "Are you _freaking kidding_ me?"

* * *

AN: So this is my new, outrageous fanfic writing goal. I intend to rewrite the entire Inuyasha series using this plot thread. Just for clarification, I will be following the anime rather than the manga. But don't worry, this isn't going to be a carbon copy of the show. There will be changes, and they will snowball.

But since this is such a big thing to try and rewrite, I intend to post each season as it's own separate story. Also because this is such a big rewrite, none of the stories will be posted until they are complete. This means that season one is completely rewritten, however updates will still be every two weeks in order to give me some time to get to work on season two.

Last but certainly not least, it should be mentioned that the idea for this story was inspired by Sophie19114 and her story, A Twist in Reality. My story has been written and posted with her permission.

I hope you all enjoy, and that you'll stick around for the whole ride!


	2. Chapter 2

Seekers of the Sacred Jewel

_I guess I should have expected this, _Inuyasha thought as tension crackled through the air. _I mean, Kaede did say that Kagome attacked the village to get the jewel. If she's willing to attack a whole village, of course she's willing to fight me._

"You cannot have the Shikon Jewel!" Kaede said firmly.

Kagome glared at her defiantly, but then her nose twitched as she sniffed the air and her eyes widened in surprise. "Kaede?" Kagome's arms dropped to her side her head tilted in confusion. "Is that you? But how?"

_Or maybe she's not going to attack me?_ Which Inuyasha was okay with considering he was already injured, but he was getting mixed signals here and he really wanted to know what exactly was going on.

"You have been pinned to the Sacred Tree for fifty years," Kaede said. "I have aged in that time."

Kagome rocked back on her heels, apparently totally floored by the news that she'd basically been in a coma for fifty years. Despite knowing what she'd done to get the jewel in the past, when Inuyasha saw that look on her face, he couldn't help but kind of feel sorry for her.

"If it's been fifty years," Kagome said, "then is Kikyo…?" She trailed off, leaving her question unspoken. Kaede apparently understood what she meant though.

"My sister Kikyo died the same day she sealed you to the tree, killed by the mortal wounds you inflicted on her," Kaede said, narrowing her one good eye at Kagome.

_Wait, Kikyo. That's who Kagome said I smelled like…I do not smell like a girl!_ Inuyasha scowled and glared at Kagome, not that the girl took any notice of him. Inuyasha was really starting to feel like a third wheel in this conversation.

"That isn't possible!" Kagome said. "I never attacked Kikyo! I wouldn't! She was my friend! You know that, Kaede!"

"I know you pretended to be her friend," Kaede said without flinching. "I know that you betrayed her, killing her and attacking the village for the Shikon Jewel."

Kagome vehemently shook her head, silver hair whipping around her face. "No, you've got it all wrong!" She took a step towards Kaede, and every villager in the area pointed their bows at her. Kagome froze, and her gaze swept over the villagers' hard expressions. Her face crumpled, and suddenly she looked like she might cry.

_Oh, heck no! I am not dealing with a crying girl right now!_

"Hey," Inuyasha said, gaining everyone's attention. "I hate to interrupt, but I'm kind of bleeding out over here." He looked at Kagome. "Will you just promise not to try and steal the jewel until we get this mess sorted out at least?"

Swallowing her tears, she nodded. "I promise."

"Good," Inuyasha said. He turned to Kaede. "Can we please go back to the village so I can get bandaged?"

Inuyasha couldn't read Kaede's face, but she nodded. "Very well."

Some of the villagers stayed behind to deal with the body of Mistress Centipede, but most went back to the village. Kagome stayed off to the side, out of everyone's way, but she followed Inuyasha and Kaede to Kaede's hut and sat in a corner near the doorway while Kaede bandaged Inuyasha's side.

"So," Kaede said without looking up from her work, "you claim not to have attacked the village."

"Yes," Kagome said. "I want the jewel, but I don't want to hurt anyone to get it."

_Not what it looked like out in the forest._ Of course, Mistress Centipede had been trying to kill them, so Inuyasha couldn't blame her for that one.

"Then how is it that I saw you attack the village myself?" Kaede asked. "And how is it that Kikyo named you as her attacker?"

After a moment of silence, Kagome said, "I don't know. I don't have any idea who attacked you, or why they would pretend to be me. But it wasn't, I swear!"

Inuyasha glanced over at her and saw the earnestness in her big golden eyes. It was weird. Eyes like hers should have just seemed strange and alien. But looking at them now, she just seemed honest and sad.

"I believe you," Inuyasha said.

Kaede looked at him sharply. "Inuyasha, you mustn't trust what she says!"

"Look, I've met power hungry people before," Inuyasha said. Granted, the jerks he was thinking of from his school weren't likely to murder people for power, but that didn't mean they weren't power hungry still. "I can tell that Kagome isn't power hungry."

"There is no other reason to seek the jewel but power," Kaede said.

Inuyasha looked at Kagome. "Then why do you want to the jewel?"

Kagome glanced away to the side. "My reasons are personal." She met his gaze once more. "But I'm not after power."

"Okay, I believe that," Inuyasha said. Kaede snorted with disbelief and moved away from Inuyasha having finished bandaging his wound. "So, are you planning to steal it from me at some point?"

Kagome fidgeted. "I'd rather not," she said. "I don't like the idea of being a thief. Is there any chance you could give it to me?"

Inuyasha glanced down at the pink jewel in his hand, and for a moment he wondered if maybe he could. What was he supposed to do with it?

"What's the deal with this jewel?" Inuyasha asked. "What does it do that makes everyone want it so bad?"

"The jewel vastly increases the power of those who use it," Kaede said. "But it is easily corrupted, and it always does more harm than good. That is why it was under the care of my sister. Kikyo was to protect it from those who would misuse its power and keep its energies pure so that the jewel could cause no harm." She pinned Inuyasha with her gaze. "And that is why you must now keep it in your possession at all times, and never let anyone else take it, for you are Kikyo's reincarnation."

"Say _what_?" Inuyasha yelped.

"The fact that the jewel was inside you is proof enough," Kaede said, "but I have also sensed in you the same power that my sister had."

"That would explain why his scent is so similar to Kikyo's," Kagome mused.

Inuyasha stared at them incredulously. "I am not reincarnated from a _girl_!"

Kaede seemed amused at his outburst. "Do you really believe that gender matters to the essence of a soul?"

"It matters to _me_!" Inuyasha said. "I have never been a girl!"

"Whether you choose to accept it or not, you are Kikyo's reincarnation," Kaede said. "As such, the duty of protecting the jewel from all who would use it falls to you." Her gaze moved to Kagome. "Even those who claim they would not use it for ill."

"Fine," Inuyasha grumbled, his entire mood soured by the fact that Kaede insisted he'd been a girl in his previous life. He yawned suddenly, the day's events catching up with him.

"Go on to bed," Kaede told him. "We can talk more in the morning."

Tucking the jewel in his pants pocket for safe keeping, Inuyasha gratefully accepted the futon she provided, and in moments he was out like a light.

* * *

When Inuyasha woke the next morning, his whole body was stiff and sore. He sat up with a grunt, and wrinkled his nose when he smelled himself. Inuyasha didn't consider himself a fussy person, but he was covered in dried sweat, blood, and dirt from the day before. He might not be bad off by the standards of the Feudal Era, he wasn't sure, but by his standards, he definitely needed a bath.

Kaede was already up and dressed, getting breakfast together. "Good morning," she said.

"Morning," Inuyasha said. He glanced around the hut. "Where's Kagome?"

"I believe she was going to patrol the area around the village," Kaede said. "Now that the jewel has resurfaced, there will be many who wish to steal it."

"Can word about the jewel seriously get around that fast?" Inuyasha asked.

"You'd be surprised," Kaede said. She handed him a bowl of food.

"Thanks," Inuyasha said. "By the way, any chance I could get a bath this morning?"

Kaede nodded. "After breakfast I will show you the bathing area in the river."

It didn't take Inuyasha long to finish eating, so Kaede took him to the bathing area. It was a ways downstream, outside of the village.

_I guess they want to make sure they're not bathing in the same area of the river they get their drinking water from._

"You may wish to wash off your clothes while you're at it," Kaede said. "If you need anything, I won't be far."

The bathing area was actually a great swimming spot. A small cliff resulted in a waterfall, and the area beneath the waterfall was more like a pond than a river, before the water flowed out and farther away. Without hesitating, Inuyasha stripped down and waded in. The water was cold, but it was a warm enough day that Inuyasha didn't mind at all.

"This feels nice," Inuyasha said, rinsing away the dirt and grime that he'd accumulated. As he washed, Inuyasha's thoughts turned towards home. _Mom and Gramps must be worried sick._

They wouldn't have any idea what had happened to him. Sure, Souta had seen him get dragged down the well, but somehow Inuyasha doubted that his mom or Gramps would believe Souta's story. Heck, Inuyasha probably wouldn't believe this whole situation if he wasn't living it.

"I wonder," Inuyasha said, "falling down the well is what brought me back here. Is it some kind of time machine or something? Maybe if I jump down it again I'll end up back home."

It might not work, but it was the only idea Inuyasha had. Eager to give it a try, Inuyasha waded out of the water. As he reached for his clothes, Kagome suddenly landed in front of him.

"Inuyasha, why are you—eek!" Kagome yelped and whipped around so her back was to him. "Pervert! Why are you naked?"

Face burning, Inuyasha scrambled to put his clothes on. "You're the pervert! I was taking a bath! What are you even doing here?"

"I'm here because you left the village with the jewel!" Kagome said. "That's dangerous! You can't just go off with it by yourself. What if you were attacked?"

Irritated, Inuyasha stalked by her. "I'm not helpless you know."

"Right," Kagome said, following him. "You were a ton of help fighting Mistress Centipede."

Inuyasha bristled at her tone of voice, and at the reminder of how helpless he'd been the night before. Inuyasha hated feeling helpless. "Would you just leave me alone?" he snapped. "It's not like you care. You're just worried about your stupid jewel!"

"That's not true," Kagome protested.

"Of course it is," Inuyasha said. "The jewel is the only reason you're sticking near me, and it's probably the only reason you hung around that Kikyo chick."

Kagome's head snapped back like he'd slapped her, and for the first time she looked well and truly angry. "Idiot! You don't know _anything_!" She turned and dashed off into the trees, gone from Inuyasha's sight in seconds.

Inuyasha winced, knowing his words had been uncalled for; how many times in the past had his temper gotten him in trouble? It wasn't Kagome's fault she was stronger than him. _What would Mom say if she'd seen that?_ He cringed as he imaged the disappointed look she'd surely wear. He also knew she'd order him to apologize for his words.

Inuyasha's pride bucked at the thought. The only thing he hated almost as much as feeling weak was having to apologize. But, as a friend frequently told him, if he didn't like to apologize then he shouldn't lose his temper.

Swearing under his breath, Inuyasha stomped off in the direction Kagome had gone. Hopefully she wouldn't be too hard to find. He hadn't gone far when some men stepped out the bushes in front of him, blocking off his path. They were rough looking men, dirty and dressed in old, rusty armor. They fanned out in front of him, and Inuyasha took a step back, distrusting them on sight.

"So, this is the guy Boss wanted us to catch," one of the men said. "Don't know why. He don't look special."

"Orders is orders," another man said. "Now, we can do this easy, or we can do this hard."

Inuyasha smirked and cracked his knuckles. "You guys are just in time. I needed someone to vent my frustrations on."

One of the men lunged at him, but Inuyasha ducked under him and then hit the man with a spinning kick to the head. He dropped like a ton of bricks.

_One down, four to go._

Two came after him at once them, but Inuyasha easily dodged their blows. They might have been bandits, but given their skill level they couldn't have been very successful at it.

Inuyasha caught an incoming punch and threw the bandit into one of him companions. "At least give me a challenge!" Inuyasha said.

The last two decided to grant his wish and drew their swords. Inuyasha wasn't worried. If they were as good at fighting as their friends had been, swords wouldn't do them any good.

Bellowing their war cry, the two bandits charged at him. Inuyasha waited until they were almost close enough to stab him and then jumped up into the air, flipping over their heads so he landed behind them. Unable to slow their momentum in time, the two bandits ran straight into a tree.

Eying the unconscious bandits, Inuyasha grinned. "I think Sensei would be proud of this."

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha turned in surprise to see Kagome running up to him. "I heard fighting! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Inuyasha said. "I handled it."

Kagome blinked in surprise as she took in the sight of the unconscious bandits. "I can see that."

Then Inuyasha remembered why he'd wanted to find Kagome. "Hey," he said, "I wanted to apologize for earlier. What I said…Well, it was stupid, and I shouldn't have said it."

Kagome looked surprised at his words, and then her expression softened. "Thanks," she said. "And I'm sorry about what I said too." She nudged one of the bandits with her toes. "You were obviously right; you're not helpless."

Inuyasha smirked, feeling more than a little pleased with her words.

"We should head back to the village," Kagome said. "They were probably after the jewel."

Inuyasha sighed. "It's just so weird for so many people to fight over a piece of rock."

Kagome looked away, and Inuyasha belatedly realized that his words may have been insensitive, since she wanted the jewel too. _I wonder why she wants it so badly._ Inuyasha didn't press the issue though. She'd already said her reasons were private, and he didn't like to pry.

They made it back to the village and found Kaede. Inuyasha quickly warned her there were bandits lurking nearby.

"If they waited until you were alone to attack, then they probably won't attack the village," Kaede said. "But I think this is a sign that we should begin your training immediately."

"My training?" Inuyasha asked blankly. When had he agreed to that?

"Yes, your training," Kaede said. "When trained properly, your spiritual powers will prove very dangerous to demons. But if they are not trained, they will be useless to you."

"My spiritual powers," Inuyasha said. "You mean like that thing I did to Mistress Centipede? I could learn how to do that whenever I wanted?"

Kaede nodded gravely. "You could."

_Then I wouldn't need Kagome to protect me._

"Okay," he said eagerly. "Let's get started."

Kaede led him to a clear area towards the edge of the village where they wouldn't be disturbed. Kagome followed them, and jumped into a tree when Kaede had Inuyasha sit down. Inuyasha figured she was probably standing guard in case anyone attacked.

"We will start with meditation," Kaede said. "It is the easiest way to learn to access your power."

Inuyasha wasn't too surprised by that. His sensei always ordered a time of meditation before they began his martial arts training, so it was something Inuyasha was used to doing. With the ease gained by years of practice, Inuyasha shifted into the proper sitting position for meditation, closed his eyes, and began to take the proper breaths.

A few minutes into the meditation, Inuyasha heard Kaede speak. "Inuyasha, I want you to look inside yourself," she said, her voice calm so as not to break him out of his meditation. "Reach inward, feel for your power."

Inuyasha turned his mind inward, searching for that warm glow he had felt when he'd used his power against Mistress Centipede. The power rose to meet him, and in his mind's eye, Inuyasha could see the pink light of his spiritual power. He could feel it pushing and pulling at his senses, like waves on the ocean.

"I found it," he said.

"Good," Kaede said. "Now, try to guide it outside of yourself."

Inuyasha tugged at the power, but it pulled back, slipping away from him like water through his fingers. He tried again, with the same result. Inuyasha growled in frustration. It was _his_ power. Why couldn't he get it to do what he wanted?

"Enough," Kaede's voice said sharply, snapping Inuyasha out of his meditative state.

Inuyasha's eyes flew open, and he was surprised to see that it was already well past noon. He'd been working at his meditation for hours, though it had felt like mere minutes. But now that he was out of his meditative state, Inuyasha noticed how hungry he was, and how stiff his body felt from sitting still for hours on end.

"You did well today," Kaede said as Inuyasha stood and started stretching to work the stiffness out of his muscles.

"Well?" Inuyasha scoffed. "I never managed to get a hold of my power."

"No," Kaede said, "but you found it. That is more than most manage their first day of training." She eyed him speculatively. "How long have you been meditating?"

"I started martial arts training when I was four, and Sensei always makes us start training with meditation," Inuyasha said. "It comes pretty easily to me at this point."

"That will certainly benefit you in your training to become a priest," Kaede said. She stood. "Come, I will prepare us some lunch. Afterwards, I will begin teaching you how to use the bow."

"A bow?" Inuyasha asked. He hadn't seen that one coming.

"I know the staff is a more traditional weapon for a priest," Kaede said, "but I am not well versed in the art of fighting with a staff. However, I do know the bow, and you will need a weapon to help you in any fight against demons. No human can hope to take them in hand to hand combat, unless it is a very weak demon."

"Right," Inuyasha said.

_Geez, I never would have thought I'd have to end up worrying about being attacked by demons._ It probably never would have been an issue if he hadn't fallen through the well and come to the past.

_Which reminds me; I've got to try jumping down the well again to see if it takes me home._

But putting the attempt off for a few more hours wouldn't make a big difference. He'd wait until Kaede was done with her lessons for the day, and then he'd see about trying to get back home.

* * *

**Lord Destroyer**:I have not read Legend Becomes Reality, nor do I intend to do so. I'm sure it's a good story, but I don't want to read any other role reversal stories right now, because I don't want to run the risk of them influencing what I write. And no, I probably didn't need permission for this, but since I had read and reviewed the other story, it seemed like the polite thing to do. I hope you'll enjoy reading my version.


	3. Chapter 3

Yura of the Demon Hair

By the time that Inuyasha had finished his first day of training with the bow it had been time for dinner, so he'd figure he'd at least stay long enough to eat before trying out the well. Then after eating he'd been really tired, and it was getting dark anyway, so he'd figured he may as well go to sleep and leave in the morning.

So it was that Inuyasha didn't find himself heading out towards the woods until late morning the next day. "Where are you going?" Kagome asked, dropping down out of the sky to land beside him. Inuyasha found he was getting rather used to her appearing this way.

"I'm heading out to the Bone Eater's Well," Inuyasha said.

Kagome frowned. "What for? It's just a dry well."

Inuyasha hesitated. He hadn't actually told anybody yet how he'd come to be here, and he wasn't sure whether or not Kagome would believe him. But really, what did he have to lose by telling her?

"Well, you see," Inuyasha started, "I'm actually from about five hundred years in the future, give or take some years. The other day I fell down the well and ended up here, in this time. I'm hoping the well will also take me back to my own time. If it doesn't…" Inuyasha trailed off as the seriousness of his situation fully hit him for the first time. He swallowed. "If it doesn't, I probably won't ever see my family again."

Kagome was quiet for a minute, and Inuyasha thought she might not believe him. He wouldn't really blame her if she didn't. Finally, she said, "Then for your sake, I hope it does work. I can't think of anything worse than losing your family."

Something in her tone of voice made Inuyasha look over at her, and he saw real pain reflected in her golden eyes. "What happened to your family?" Inuyasha asked, suddenly certain that Kagome was alone in the world.

Kagome bit her lip and looked away, so Inuyasha hastened to add, "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But if you want to talk, I'll listen."

"My father was a dog demon," Kagome said. "He was very powerful; Lord of the Western Lands, in fact. My mother was a human princess that he fell in love with. On the day I was born, my father had a battle with a dragon, Ryukotsusei. He won, but the battle left him badly injured. He would have been okay if he'd rested after his battle, but he found out that my mother was under attack. Instead of resting, he came to my mother's rescue. Because of that, he died from his injuries, so I never got to meet him."

Kagome lapsed into silence, so Inuyasha said, "He sounds like a good person."

"Based on what I've been told, he was," Kagome said. "My mother raised me by herself. Only, when I was still young she got sick and died. There was nothing anyone could do. But once she was gone, the castle folk banished me."

Inuyasha stopped walking, incredulous. "They _banished_ you? As a _kid_? Why?"

Kagome looked up at him. "When you're a half breed, nobody wants you. Humans think you're no better than a demon, and demons see half breeds as lower than humans. It's just how things are."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Inuyasha said. "No one can help who their parents are or how they were born. It's not like you chose to be a half demon. And even if you had, I still don't see why it should matter."

Kagome stared at him with wide eyes, her mouth partially open in surprise.

"What?" Inuyasha said defensively at her look.

"Kikyo said the same thing to me, once," Kagome said. "She used different words, but she said basically the same thing."

Inuyasha shifted his weight, still uncomfortable with being compared to Kikyo. "Yeah, well, at least she got something right."

He started walking again, but Kagome caught his sleeve. He paused and looked back at her. "You and her are the only ones who've ever said that to me before," Kagome said. She smiled the sweetest, most sincere smile Inuyasha had ever seen on any girl. "Thank you."

Inuyasha could feel his face heating up, and he quickly looked away. Clearing his throat, he said, "Yeah, sure, whatever."

They made it to the well and Inuyasha stared down into the bottom. _I really hope this works._

"Hey," Inuyasha said, looking back at Kagome. "If the well works and I can travel back and forth from my time to here, I'll come back and visit. I promise."

Kagome nodded, clasping her hands behind her back. "I'll look forward to it."

Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha braced himself and jumped.

* * *

Kagome stepped forward and peered down the well, half expecting to see Inuyasha glaring up at her. But there was nothing; Inuyasha was gone, as if he'd never existed, and he'd taken the jewel with him. Kagome sighed and looked away. "I should have taken the jewel when I had the chance."

But how could Kagome steal from the only person she knew that didn't hate her? She couldn't bring herself to hurt Inuyasha, not now when he was the closest thing she had to a friend.

"And he said he'd be back," Kagome said, turning away from the well. "He promised." But Kagome knew that promises were easily forgotten, and a part of her selfishly wished that the well hadn't worked and he'd been stuck here in this time with her.

Kagome froze when she sensed a dark presence nearby. Her head snapped up and she sniffed the air as her ears twitched, trying to locate the source of the feeling.

"Who's there?" Kagome snapped, falling into a defensive stance.

Someone giggled, and Kagome knew that the sound could only bode ill for her. A female demon appeared then, floating down out of the sky. She had short black hair, bright red eyes, and wore a skimpy black outfit.

"I heard there was a half demon after the jewel," she said in a sugary sweet voice that set Kagome's teeth on edge. "That must be you!"

"And who are you?" Kagome asked.

"My name is Yura," the woman said. "Now tell me, where is the Shikon Jewel?"

"It's gone," Kagome said, suddenly glad that Inuyasha had taken the jewel with him into the future. Yura was most definitely bad news, and the last thing they needed was for her to get her hands on the Shikon Jewel.

Yura's eyes narrowed. "Where has it gone?"

"Nowhere you can get it," Kagome snapped in reply.

"Then I guess I don't need you!" Yura said and made a slashing motion with her arm.

Something Kagome couldn't see slammed into her chest, knocking her back and to the ground. _If I wasn't wearing my Robe of the Fire Rat, that probably would have gone completely through me. Whatever _it_ is. _

Yura made another motion with her hands, but Kagome still couldn't see whatever it was that Yura was attacking her with. Taking a chance, Kagome jumped to the side, but the thing slammed into her again. This time, instead of knocking her to the ground, the strange material wrapped around her wrists and ankles, holding her up in the air. Kagome struggled against her bonds, but whatever the invisible material was, it was tough.

"You know," Yura said thoughtfully, drifting closer. "You do have pretty silver hair. I ought to keep it for my collection." Yura pulled her short sword out of the sheath she wore on her hip and took careful aim. "Hold still now; I want to get a clean cut."

Kagome's eyes widened as Yura flew at her with the sword; tied up as she was, she had no way to dodge Yura's blow. Then an arrow flew in from Kagome's left and pierced Yura's side. Yura fell back with a pained scream, and Kagome's bonds loosened enough that she was able to tear out of them.

Kagome landed lightly on the ground and looked to the side to find Kaede, who already had another arrow ready to fire.

"Where is Inuyasha?" Kaede asked.

"He went home," Kagome said, dashing over to the old woman's side.

Kaede looked over at her sharply. "What? We need him for this!"

"How were we supposed to know that?" Kagome asked.

"You old hag," Yura snarled, interrupting their conversation. Her wide eyes had a crazed look to them, and her side where the arrow had pierced her was badly burned. "You'll pay for that!" She jerked her arm in a sharp throwing gesture, so Kagome immediately moved in front of Kaede with her arms crossed in front of her face to use her sleeves as a shield. Yura's invisible weapon hit her hard, but Kagome was braced for impact this time and held her ground.

"You must get Inuyasha," Kaede said.

"Okay," Kagome said through gritted teeth, "but first I'm getting you out of here!" If she didn't, Yura was sure to kill Kaede, and Kagome had no intentions of letting such a thing happen.

Turning, Kagome scooped Kaede up and ran.

* * *

When the pink light faded, Inuyasha found himself standing in the dark bottom of the well. He looked up and didn't see blue skies, but the brown underside of the well house roof. He leaned back against the side of the well, and let out a breath of air. If there was a roof over the well, then he was home.

"It worked," he said. "I'm back."

He heard the door to the well house rattle open, and then Souta's voice was saying, "I'm telling you, Grandpa, a monster dragged him down the well!"

"But we checked the well, Souta," Gramp's voice said. "Are you sure you weren't dreaming?"

"Yo, Gramps!" Inuyasha called. "Can you toss a rope or something down here so I can climb out?"

Seconds later Gramps and Souta were leaning over the edge of the well. "Inuyasha?" Gramps said incredulously.

Inuyasha grinned up at their stunned faces. "Are you going to help me out or what?" he asked.

It took a few minutes for Gramps and Souta to find a rope, and then they tossed it down the well for him. As soon as Inuyasha was out, Gramps was scolding him. "Where have you been, young man? We've been worried sick about you! You could have at least called us!"

"Let's find Mom first, and then I'll tell you both what happened," Inuyasha said.

They went to the house where Mrs. Higurashi was working in the kitchen. Inuyasha knew the moment he saw her that something was wrong; her movements were mechanical and stiff, her shoulders bunched and tense.

"Mom?" Inuyasha said.

Her head snapped up and for a moment she just stared at him. Then tears filled her eyes and she dropped the food she was preparing to wrap Inuyasha in a tight hug. "Inuyasha! I was so worried! What happened to you?"

Guilt ate at him as he hugged his mother back. As soon as he'd thought of trying the well to get home he should have done it, but he hadn't given any thought to how worried his family would be about him.

"Sorry, Mom," Inuyasha said. "I wasn't sure how to get home at first."

She pulled back, frowning at him. "What are you talking about?"

"It's a long story," Inuyasha said. "Maybe we should sit down?"

They sat around the kitchen table. "You were dragged down the well by that monster, right?" Souta said.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said. He looked at Gramps and his mom. "I know it sounds crazy, but I was. And then, when I got to the bottom of the well, I was five hundred years in the past."

Inuyasha told them what had happened, how he'd found Kagome, about Kaede and her village, and about Mistress Centipede and the sacred jewel. As proof Inuyasha pulled the jewel out of his pocket and showed it to them.

Gramps examined the jewel. "So this is the Shikon Jewel?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "That's what everyone there said."

"Inuyasha," his mom said frowning, "this is a very difficult story to believe."

"There's no way he's lying," Souta said. "Inuyasha is the worst liar ever. He's telling the truth."

Inuyasha glared at his little brother, not entirely sure he appreciated this defense.

"The boy has a point," Gramps said, setting the jewel back down on the table. "And I think if Inuyasha were going to lie to us, he'd make it something a little more believable."

"True," Mrs. Higurashi said.

"Well," Gramps said, standing up. "The jewel should be safe here. I'll just seal up the well so that nothing else can come through."

"You can't seal it up!" Inuyasha protested.

His family all looked at him. "Why not?" Gramps asked.

"You aren't planning to go back there, are you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Well, yeah," Inuyasha said. "I promised Kagome that I'd visit her."

Souta grinned and pointed a finger at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha has a girlfriend!"

"She is not my girlfriend!" Inuyasha snapped, swiping at Souta's hand. Souta dodged out of his reach. Inuyasha turned back to Gramps and his mother. "Look, it's just that she doesn't have any family or friends back there, and people judge her because she's a half breed. She doesn't deserve that, and anyway, I promised."

"Well, I suppose it would be okay, since we'll know where you are," Mrs. Higurashi finally said.

Inuyasha grinned and relaxed. "Thanks, Mom."

"Inuyasha has a girlfriend!" Souta said in a sing song voice.

Inuyasha grin disappeared and his eyebrow twitched. "That's it! Come here you little brat!"

Inuyasha had just managed to catch Souta in the living room when their front door swung open. The brothers froze and stared at the figure outlined by the sunlight.

"Kagome?" Inuyasha sputtered.

Kagome's golden eyes focused on him, and she took a few steps into the house. "Inuyasha, you've got to come back right now!"

"How did you get here?" Inuyasha asked.

"Through the well," she said impatiently. "Now we've got to go!"

"Hold on, just a minute!" Mrs. Higurashi said walking forward.

Kagome tensed as Mrs. Higurashi reached out to her, and then looked stunned when Mrs. Higurashi reached up and rubbed her ears.

"Are these real?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

Souta rushed over. "Oh, me next! I want to touch them!"

"Mom!" Inuyasha protested. "You can't just touch someone's ears!"

"It's okay," Kagome said as Mrs. Higurashi backed off. "But, Inuyasha, we need to go now!"

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha asked.

"A demon named Yura showed up looking for the jewel," Kagome said. "Kaede helped me fight her off temporarily, but now she's out for Kaede's blood!"

"Is Kaede okay?" Inuyasha asked.

"For now," Kagome said. "I've got her hidden, but she's too old for this fight, and I have to have help from someone. Yura attacks with hair, but it's invisible to me. Kaede could see it though, and she said you should be able to see it too."

"She attacks with hair?" Inuyasha repeated.

"Trust me, it's a lot more dangerous than it sounds," Kagome said. "And we need to go!"

Inuyasha nodded. "Okay, let's go." If this Yura was on a rampage and couldn't find either the jewel or Kaede, she might decide to take it out on the village, and Inuyasha couldn't just stand back and let that happen.

"Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi said with a worried frown. "Be careful."

Inuyasha nodded. "I will."

Kagome and Inuyasha went back to the well house. "Didn't think I'd be going back quite this soon," Inuyasha said.

"Sorry," Kagome said.

"Why?" Inuyasha asked. "It's not your fault."

"Just be careful," Kagome said. "Yura is a lot more dangerous than Mistress Centipede was."

_And I was next to useless against Mistress Centipede. Great._

But there was no way he was going to tell Kagome he was nervous, so he just forced a grin and said, "Don't worry. I've got this."

They jumped down the well together, and that pink light swirled up around them. It faded away, and they landed softly at the bottom of the well. Without asking permission, Kagome wrapped an arm around Inuyasha's waist and jumped up to the top of the well.

_Okay, she has got to stop carrying me._

What he saw at the top of the well quickly chased away thoughts of his discomfort however. Strands of hair crisscrossed the clearing at random, reminding Inuyasha of laser beams in an action movie. "Whoa," Inuyasha said. "How did all this get here?"

"All what?" Kagome asked. "Is it more hair?"

"You seriously can't see this?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome shook her head. "Not at all."

"It's like a spider web," Inuyasha said.

"If it's like a web, maybe we can follow it back to Yura," Kagome said.

"I don't see how," Inuyasha argued. "There are so many different hairs, and they're all going in different directions."

Then one strand of hair in particular caught his eye. It seemed to almost be glowing a little. "Hold on, that one might work," Inuyasha said. "Follow me exactly, so you don't break the hairs. We don't need to let Yura know where we are if we can help it."

Inuyasha followed the hair, carefully ducking under or stepping over the other hairs that crisscrossed their path. By mimicking his movements, Kagome managed to avoid snapping the hairs as well. Wherever Yura was holed up, it seemed to be several miles away from the well.

"Are we almost there?" Kagome asked quietly. "This is taking a while."

"The element of surprise is always worth it," Inuyasha replied. A shiver traveled up his spine. "And yeah, I think we're almost there."

He dropped to the ground and belly crawled the last few feet to some bushes. Carefully peeking through the leaves, Inuyasha found they were on the edge of a clearing. Inside the clearing was a giant hairball, nearly as big as his house. The clearing was crisscrossed by ropes of hair as thick as Inuyasha's arm.

"What do you see?" Kagome whispered in his ear.

"Giant hairball," Inuyasha whispered back. "This must be Yura's home base. But I don't see her."

"Me neither," Kagome said. "Where do you think she is?"

"If she's not here, it's almost guaranteed she's causing trouble somewhere else," Inuyasha growled.

Kagome bit her lip. "Do you think she's attacking the village?"

"Don't know," Inuyasha said. "Let's get her attention, just in case."

Inuyasha stood and walked into the clearing, still ducking and stepping over the ropes of hair as he approached the hairball. "How about we start by messing up her nest?" He picked up a stick off the ground and stabbed it at the giant hairball. A cool, tingling sensation rushed down his arm, and the stick flared with a pink light that caused the hairball to shudder and then burst open where Inuyasha had stabbed it. Skulls with hair still attached spilled out and Inuyasha stumbled back from them with a yelp. "Why are there skulls inside this thing?" he gasped.

"Yura controls hair," Kagome pointed out. "Where did you think she got it?"

Inuyasha stared at her. How could she be calm about it? Yura had to have murdered hundreds, maybe thousands of people to get this much hair. Why did Kagome seem to think it wasn't surprising at all?

But now wasn't time for those questions. Inuyasha forced himself to look at the nest of skulls and hair again. Looking up at it, Inuyasha saw a skull deeper inside of it that was bright red. "That looks important," Inuyasha said. In this case, important probably meant he should break it. But he didn't fancy the idea of climbing up that hill of skulls.

Swallowing his pride, Inuyasha said, "Kagome, I need you to get me up there," he said pointing.

Kagome obligingly wrapped her arm around his waist again and jumped up in the direction he had said. They landed high amidst the skulls, and Inuyasha winced as he felt them shift under his shoes and clack together.

_If this isn't nightmare fuel, I don't know what is._

But they were close to the red skull, so Inuyasha started climbing up towards it.

"Get _out_ of my _hair_!"

The skulls beneath Inuyasha surged, causing Inuyasha to lose his footing and fall. Ropes of hair snapped out and wrapped around his wrists yanking him up into the air where he saw that Kagome was similarly tied up. A woman that must have been Yura stood on a rope of hair between them.

_What is it with demon women and not being decently covered?_ Inuyasha wondered as he stared at her mostly revealed cleavage. Not that Inuyasha was complaining; he just wasn't used to it.

"You," Yura said snapping Inuyasha out of his thoughts. "You're the one who has the jewel!"

A thinner rope of hair reached out and pulled the jewel from his pants pocket. "Give that back!" Inuyasha said, pulling against his bonds to no avail. Yura was causing them enough trouble without the jewel; Inuyasha didn't want to know how powerful she'd be with the jewel.

An arrow cut through the air, severing the rope of hair that held the jewel. The jewel fell to the ground as everyone looked to see where the arrow had come from. Inuyasha's jaw dropped when he saw Kaede standing at the edge of the clearing, fitting another arrow to her bow.

"What do you think you're doing, grandma?" Inuyasha shouted.

"Saving you two, apparently," Kaede said calmly.

"Old hag," Yura growled, lunging towards her, only to be forced to dodge another of Kaede's arrows. The arrow flew past Yura and severed the hair pinning one of Kagome's hands. Then Kagome was able to use her claws to free herself.

Kagome attacked Yura, and while they were busy Kaede shot another arrow to free Inuyasha. He fell heavily to the ground, and immediately started looking for the jewel.

_Where'd it go, where'd it go?_

Inuyasha spotted it, lying beneath the place where Yura and Kagome were fighting. Inuyasha rushed for it, but Yura caught sight of him and said, "The jewel is mine!" She threw her sword at Inuyasha who had to dodge to the side. The blade buried itself deep into the ground.

Desperate for a weapon of some kind, Inuyasha grabbed the sword, and a small flash of pink light disintegrated the hairs that had been tied to the sword to control its movements.

Yura was forced to dodge another arrow from Kaede and a swipe Kagome's claws. This gave Inuyasha just enough time to scramble forward and grab the jewel.

_We've got to end this fast! That was way too close._

Inuyasha remembered the red skull and ran back towards the giant hairball.

"Inuyasha, behind you!" Kaede called.

Inuyasha turned to see a giant spike of hair coming straight for him. He raised the sword in a pitiful defense, but suddenly Kagome was there. The hair slammed into her, then widened and wrapped around her like a cocoon, leaving only her head uncovered. The hair lifted her back up towards Yura who was glaring down at Inuyasha.

"Hand over the jewel," she said, "or your little puppy here is dead."

"Don't do it Inuyasha!" Kagome cried.

"You must not give her the jewel!" Kaede said.

Inuyasha gritted his teeth, sorely wishing Yura was in range of the sword he was holding. Giving Yura the jewel was a bad idea; she'd probably just kill them all anyway. But he couldn't knowingly sentence Kagome to death either.

"You want the jewel?" Inuyasha asked. "Fine, then take it!"

Inuyasha tossed the jewel up in the air, and as it came down he swung the sword at it with all his strength. His intention was to use the sword like a bat, knocking the jewel so far away that Yura would hopefully be so distracted trying to find it that they'd be able to defeat her.

That wasn't how it played out.

When the sword came in contact with the jewel, the jewel flared so brightly that Inuyasha couldn't look directly at it. Then with a force that knocked Inuyasha back, the jewel shattered, pieces streaking through the air in all directions.

When the light faded, lying on the ground was a single pink shard of the jewel.

"You broke the jewel," Yura said, staring at the shard. "You broke the jewel!"

"I didn't mean to," Inuyasha protested. "You'd think a magic jewel like that would be unbreakable or something!"

Yura's lips pulled back in a snarl. "Die!"

An arrow hit Yura in the back before she could attack him. "Go, Inuyasha!" Kaede called as Yura screamed in pain.

Inuyasha didn't need to be told twice. He took off at a sprint for the hairball and jumped up the skull hill towards the red skull. He scrambled up the hairball, not looking back to see if Yura was attacking him or not, and as soon as he was in range Inuyasha pulled back his arm and stabbed the skull.

Inuyasha looked over his shoulder to see Yura's body disintegrate. Slowly, the hair and skulls beneath him also faded away, and Inuyasha soon found himself sitting on the ground. Kagome dropped down from the cocoon of hair she'd been trapped in and Kaede walked forward to meet them. The elderly priestess paused long enough to collect the jewel shard and bring it over to Inuyasha. Numbly, Inuyasha held out his hand for the shard and Kaede dropped it in his hand.

"That shard still contains the power of the jewel," Kaede said. "If a demon gets a hold of it, it will still cause them to become far more powerful than they already are."

"And now they've all been scattered to who knows where," Kagome said. She glared at Inuyasha. "What were you thinking?"

"I didn't know it would break!" Inuyasha said. "I was trying to save you!"

Kagome's expression softened, just a little. "I know. I'm sorry."

"You will have to collect them," Kaede said. "Inuyasha, you are the only one who has the ability to sense jewel shards. You and Kagome will have to work together to find them all before they fall into the wrong hands."

Inuyasha nodded. He'd screwed up big time, and now it was his responsibility to fix it. _How many people are going to suffer because of my mistake? _He didn't even want to think about it.

"Guess I'll be here a lot more than I thought," Inuyasha said, using the sword to push himself up to his feet.

"We'd better check on the village," Kagome said. "Yura may have attacked it."

"Let's go," Inuyasha said. He clutched the shard in his hand as they went back towards the village. Somehow, that one small shard felt a hundred times heavier than the entire jewel ever had.


	4. Chapter 4

Aristocratic Assassin, Sesshomaru

After checking on the village, Inuyasha went home so he could assure his family that he was okay. He gave them a shortened version of their fight with Yura, trying to make it seem like it hadn't been quite so dangerous. When he got to the part about breaking the jewel, Gramps was horrified.

"You _broke_ a sacred object?" Gramps asked.

"How was I supposed to know it would break?" Inuyasha snapped. "Magical things are supposed to be durable!" He slouched down in his chair. "But since it is broken, I've got to help find the jewel shards. If I don't, a lot of bad things could happen."

"Well, if you have to you have to," Mrs. Higurashi said. "I don't know what we'll tell your school though."

Thinking of missing school made Inuyasha think of something else he'd missed. He could feel himself go pale. "Oh, crap."

"What is it?" Souta asked.

"I've been missing my lessons," Inuyasha said. "Sensei is going to kill me."

"Just tell him you were sick," Gramps said.

That wasn't going to mollify Sensei. At all. Inuyasha stood. "I'd better go talk to him," Inuyasha said.

"It's almost dinner time," Mrs. Higurashi protested. "At least wait until morning."

"Waiting another day will just put another nail in my coffin," Inuyasha said. "I'll be back!" Waving goodbye to his family, Inuyasha left his house and started walking towards his sensei's dojo.

Sensei had been friends with Inuyasha's father, so when Inuyasha had expressed an interest in learning martial arts, that's where he'd gone. Sensei was an amazing martial artist, and a very good teacher. However, Inuyasha had learned early on that there were a few things that could put Sensei in a very bad temper. Missing a lesson for any reason was high on that list. Inuyasha had missed three.

When Inuyasha made it to Sensei's property, he hesitated trying to decide if Sensei would be in the dojo or his house at this time. Deciding to check the house first, Inuyasha walked up to the front door and knocked. It was opened a moment later by Sensei's ten year old daughter, Usagi.

Usagi gasped when she saw him. "Inuyasha! You're finally here!"

"Um, yeah," Inuyasha said. "Where is Sensei?"

"He's in the dojo still," Usagi told him. She gave him a sympathetic look. "Good luck. I hope you don't die."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said. "Me too."

Inuyasha went over to the dojo where he found Sensei meditating. Without speaking, Inuyasha knelt down in front of Sensei and waited to be acknowledged. Sensei was a tall man at six feet, a good six inches taller than Inuyasha was. His long black hair was tied back in its customary braid to keep it out of Sensei's way, and when his black eyes opened, they pinned Inuyasha to the floor.

"I take it you were on your death bed the past three days," Sensei said, his voice a low rumble. "That's the only reason I can think of for you to miss your lessons."

"I was sick," Inuyasha said. "I thought Mom called you. I'm very sorry."

Sensei stood in one fluid movement, and Inuyasha scrambled to follow suit. As soon as he was on his feet, Sensei's fist shot out and caught him in the jaw causing Inuyasha to stumble back. Before he could regain his footing, Sensei grabbed a fistful of Inuyasha's shirt and threw him out of the dojo's door. Inuyasha landed hard enough that the fall winded him.

"When you feel like telling me the truth, you may return," Sensei said and snapped the door shut.

Inuyasha sat up with a groan, rubbing his jaw. _Man, that hurt. It might even bruise. Sensei is really ticked._

He probably should have expected it. One thing that angered Sensei more than a student missing lessons was being lied to, and despite his efforts Inuyasha never could get the hang of lying.

But there was no way Sensei would believe the truth. No one in their right mind would believe Inuyasha about what had really happened. His own family almost hadn't believed him, and Inuyasha couldn't blame them for it. But if Inuyasha didn't tell the truth, then Sensei would never take him back.

"Screw this," Inuyasha said getting to his feet. "I'll tell him the truth, and if he believes me, great, if he doesn't, at least I tried."

Inuyasha marched back into the dojo where he found Sensei sitting in meditation again. Inuyasha sat down in front of him and said, "Sensei. I haven't been to my lessons because I fell down a magic well and went five hundred years back in time."

Sensei stared at him with an unreadable expression. "Elaborate."

Inuyasha repeated the story of his adventure down the well, concluding with the fight with Yura and the jewel getting broken.

"So," Inuyasha said, "I'm going to have to go back to help search for the jewel shards, which means I'm going to be missing more lessons in the future I guess."

"Hm," Sensei said. "This is an unexpected turn."

Inuyasha blinked. "You believe me?"

"You are the worst liar I know," Sensei said. "You'd never be able to make up all those details on the fly. Besides, if you were going to lie, I think you'd try and come up with something a little less ridiculous."

"Thanks, I think," Inuyasha said.

"However," Sensei continued, "this turn of events also makes your training even more important." He stood to his feet. "It's about time I start training you with a weapon. You aren't likely to last long against demons barehanded."

Sensei led Inuyasha to the back of the dojo where he opened a door. Inuyasha's jaw dropped when he saw what was inside the room. There were weapons of all kinds, from swords to staves, to nunchucks, and everything in between.

"Can you actually use all of these?" Inuyasha asked.

"Would there be any point in having them if I couldn't?" Sensei snapped.

"I guess not," Inuyasha said. "So, do I get to pick one?"

"Of course not," Sensei said. "Don't touch them, don't even breathe on them. I know what weapon you'll be well suited for."

Inuyasha sulked in the doorway. It would be so cool to use Sensei's weapons. Obviously Sensei would forbid him from going anywhere near them then.

Sensei picked out a staff and motioned for Inuyasha to exit the room. "A staff?" Inuyasha asked, a little disappointed. He'd hoped for a cooler weapon.

"Not just a staff," Sensei said. He twisted his hands and the staff separated into three equal sections connected by short lengths of chain. "A three section staff is a useful and versatile weapon. When you are properly trained in its use, you will find that it serves you well."

"Yes, Sensei," Inuyasha said dutifully, but he would still rather have a different weapon, like a sword.

Sensei reattached the sections and tossed the staff to Inuyasha. "Your first lesson begins now."

"Now?" Inuyasha sputtered. "But it's dinner time!"

"You should have thought about that before you came so late," Sensei said. "Let's begin!"

* * *

Inuyasha left for the Feudal Era early the next morning, carrying a backpack loaded down with supplies courtesy of his mother and the staff Sensei had given him the night before. Inuyasha felt fairly well prepared for anything the Feudal Era had to throw at him.

It was a beautiful day back in the Feudal Era; blue skies with a few fluffy white clouds pinning it up. Inuyasha walked into the village, ignoring the looks he got from the villagers; apparently they were still worked up about him supposedly being Kikyo's reincarnation. He went straight to Kaede's hut and ducked inside.

"Morning, Kaede," Inuyasha said.

"Good morning, Inuyasha," Kaede said.

"Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"She's not back from her morning patrol yet," Kaede said. "Inuyasha, before you leave with her, I want to give you something."

"Okay," Inuyasha said.

Kaede pulled a bead necklace out of her sleeve and held it out for him. "These are the beads of subjugation. To use them, you need only fill them with your power and think of whom you want to wear them. Then, you simply say the word of subjugation and they beads will stop their wearer."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said taking the beads. "But I'm not really sure what I'll need them for."

"I'm giving them to you in case you need to use them on Kagome," Kaede said.

Inuyasha almost dropped them in shock. "Kagome? Why would I need to use them on her?"

"She is after the jewel," Kaede said.

Inuyasha glared at her. "So? Kagome's saved _both_ of our lives! You want me to work with her but not trust her? That's stupid!"

He shoved the necklace in his pocket and turned on his heel. He couldn't believe Kaede was still acting like this, after all Kagome had done for them. He shoved his way past Kaede's door and marched off. He'd find Kagome and they'd go ahead and leave to search for jewel shards. Maybe by the time they got back he'd be able to look at Kaede without getting mad all over again.

He found Kagome at the edge of the forest. "Hey," he called out. "Ready to go?"

She hopped out of the tree she'd been in and eyed him curiously. She seemed a little surprised by his clipped tone of voice. "Sure, we can go." Then she paused and reached up, lightly slapping the side of her neck. She pulled her hand away and a bug fluttered down. "Myoga!" Kagome said with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"The bug has a name?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm a flea demon, young man," said a small voice from the ground. "I am not a mere bug as you put it."

"A talking bug," Inuyasha said. "Now I've seen it all."

"Not hardly," said Myoga.

"Myoga," Kagome repeated, "why are you here? You don't normally visit without a reason."

"Ah, yes," Myoga said. "I'm here because, as you know, I am one of the guardians of your father's grave and someone is trying to find it."

Kagome frowned. "Then why come to me? I don't know where his grave is."

"Yes, well, that's because the person searching for it is Sesshomaru," Myoga said. "And I believe he may be coming after you for information."

Kagome's face did a strange thing then. For just a second it went totally blank and emotionless, before rapidly shifting through a series of emotions. Inuyasha saw hope there, mixed with pain, anger, and eagerness before it finally settled on uncertainty.

"Who is this Sesshomaru person?" Inuyasha asked.

"Sesshomaru is my brother," Kagome said softly.

Inuyasha started at that. When Kagome had told him about her family, she hadn't mentioned the fact that she had a brother.

"Half brother," Myoga said. "The Inu no Taisho is their father, but they have different mothers. Sesshomaru is also a full demon instead of half. By the way, who are you?"

"The name's Inuyasha," he said. "I guess you could say I'm Kagome's friend. We're going to be searching for the shards of the Shikon Jewel together."

"I see," Myoga said. "Wait, you mean to tell me that the Shikon Jewel has returned?"

"Yeah, and it got broken," Inuyasha said.

"How did the Shikon Jewel of all things get broken?" Myoga demanded.

"Myoga," Kagome said, interrupting their talk. "Are you sure Sesshomaru is coming here?"

"Fairly certain," Myoga said. "He seems to think you might know something about the location of your father's grave."

"But I don't," Kagome said. "He died when I was only a baby."

"You're the guardian of his grave," Inuyasha said. "Don't you know where it is?"

"Erm, well, not exactly," Myoga said.

"What do you mean, not exactly?" Inuyasha asked. "What kind of guardian are you if you don't even know where the grave you're guarding is?"

"The Inu no Taisho did not wish for it to be easily found," Myoga said. "All that is known of its location is three cryptic clues."

"Three clues," said a new voice. "I was only informed of two."

Inuyasha and Kagome both jumped up to their feet at the sound to see a figure that must have been Sesshomaru approaching them from the forest. He was tall, though not quite as tall as Sensei, with silver hair that fell to his knees, and golden eyes. He had strange facial markings that kind of, in Inuyasha's opinion, made it look like he was wearing makeup. His every move was gauged and deliberate, and he had a presence that made Yura seem like nothing.

_If we have to fight this guy, I'm not sure we can win._

"Seeing but never seen, protected but never known by its protector," Sesshomaru recited. His golden eyes narrowed. "What is the third clue?"

"Did I say there were three clues?" Myoga asked from Kagome's shoulder. "That was a slip of the tongue. Obviously there are only two clues."

"Fool! Do not lie to Lord Sesshomaru!" screeched a creature that Inuyasha had overlooked before. It was a short, toad like creature with bulbous yellow eyes waving around a staff that was more than twice as tall as it was.

"The heck is that?" Inuyasha couldn't help but ask.

The creature glared at him. "Pathetic human! How dare you address me?"

Inuyasha's eye twitched and he began to wonder just how far he could punt the thing.

Suddenly Sesshomaru was standing inches from Kagome. Inuyasha's jaw dropped. He hadn't even seen Sesshomaru move.

"What is the third clue?" Sesshomaru asked. "I will not ask again."

"I didn't even know the first two," Kagome said.

"I misspoke," Myoga added. "There is no third clue."

"Then you are no use to me," Sesshomaru said. "Die." Again moving faster than Inuyasha's eyes could follow, Sesshomaru jumped up into the air and began lashing out at Kagome with a glowing energy whip. Kagome just barely managed to block the strike using her sleeve, but the blow still knocked her back.

Inuyasha stumbled back from the fight, wide eyed with shock. "But they're family," he said to himself. "Why would he attack her?"

"_I can't think of anything worse than losing your family."_

"_Demons see half breeds as lower than humans."_

"_Half brother. Sesshomaru is also full demon."_

The pieces clicked into place, but Inuyasha didn't like the picture he was getting. Kagome had been abandoned as a child, and this guy could have helped her, but he hadn't. Kagome desperately wanted a family, and this guy stayed away. Kagome didn't have the information he wanted, and now he was trying to kill her.

"Okay," Inuyasha growled, "now I'm pissed."

"Sesshomaru generally has that effect on people," Myoga agreed from Inuyasha's shoulder.

Inuyasha looked over at him and sputtered. "Myoga! What are you doing over here? Why aren't you with Kagome?"

"What, and get in the middle of that?" Myoga replied, pointing at the fight. "Are you crazy?"

Inuyasha looked back out at the fight. It wasn't going well. Sesshomaru's attacks were fast and relentless. It was all Kagome could do to dodge and block, and she wasn't even trying to attack him. _He's her family; the only family she has. Kagome is never going to attack him._ But if she didn't fight back then Sesshomaru would succeed in killing her.

Inuyasha plucked Myoga off his shoulder and held him firmly between two fingers. "Myoga, did I mention earlier that I'm a priest in training?"

"Um, no?" Myoga said, trying unsuccessfully to squirm out of his grip.

"Well, I am," Inuyasha said. "So unless you want to find out what it's like to be purified, I suggest you tell me the third clue!"

"There is no third clue!" Myoga said.

"He's going to kill her!" Inuyasha snapped. "Is a stupid grave really worth Kagome's life?"

Myoga sighed in defeat. "The black pearl on the right."

The moment Myoga said those words, Sesshomaru froze. His cold eyes drifted over to Myoga and Inuyasha and he said, "Now, was that so hard?"

_I really hate this guy._

"The black pearl on the right," he repeated, his gaze turning back to Kagome. "Seeing but never seen. Protected but unknown to its protector." He smirked. "It's been under our noses this whole time. Or, perhaps I should say above your nose." He moved then, catching Kagome up with one hand by the neck.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried out in alarm.

With his free hand, Sesshomaru pointed two fingers at Kagome's right eye. Energy leaped from his fingers and pierced her eye, making Kagome cry out in pain. Inuyasha ran towards them, but before he made it Sesshomaru tossed Kagome to the side. Inuyasha knelt by her where she lay on the ground, one hand pressed over her eye. Inuyasha pulled her hand away so he could see the damage done, and sucked in a breath. Her pupil was gone, leaving just a spot of gold in her eye.

"Can you still see?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yes," Kagome said, her voice a little shaky.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru said. The toad like creature ran to him. Sesshomaru dropped a small black pearl on the ground and took the two headed staff from Jaken. He tapped the pearl with the bottom of the staff, and the old man's head at the top laughed. The pearl flew up in the air and expanded into a black portal. Sesshomaru tossed the staff back to Jaken and the two walked through the portal.

"Quickly," Myoga said, "we must follow them."

"Why?" Kagome asked, sounding more miserable than Inuyasha had heard before. "Let him do whatever he wants with Father's grave. I don't care."

"But Kagome," Myoga protested, "he's going to steal your birthright!"

"Her birthright?" Inuyasha asked.

"One of your father's swords, the Tetsusaiga, is hidden in his grave," Myoga explained. "He always intended that sword for you, but Sesshomaru is going to steal it!"

Inuyasha had heard enough. He stood to his feet and marched over to the portal. "Where are you going?" Kagome called.

"To stop that bastard from taking what's yours!" Inuyasha called back. "Are you coming or what?"

Without waiting for a response Inuyasha jumped through the portal. He found himself falling through the sky over a rocky wasteland. In the distance, there was a giant dog like skeleton wearing armor. Kagome fizzled into existence beside him, and a skeletal bird creature flew underneath them so they landed on its back.

"Inuyasha, you can't fight Sesshomaru," Kagome said.

"Well, you won't fight him," Inuyasha said.

"He's my brother!" Kagome said.

"He tried to kill you!" Inuyasha shouted. "That bastard doesn't deserve to be your brother! Next time would you please just punch him?"

"I'm not like him!" Kagome yelled back. "I can't hurt my family!"

"Well, I'm not related to him," Inuyasha said grimly. "If you can't handle him, I will."

The bird landed on the giant skeleton's shoulder. "Behold," said Myoga from his place on Kagome, "the great dog demon, the Inu no Taisho, in his truest form."

"Yeah whatever," said Inuyasha who was in no mood to be impressed. He hopped into the inside of the skeleton's mouth and started climbing down.

"Inuyasha, what are you planning?" Kagome demanded.

Inuyasha didn't answer. He'd already seen how good Sesshomaru's hearing was. He couldn't tell Kagome his plan and risk Sesshomaru overhearing.

They made it to the bottom and found Sesshomaru standing in front of a pedestal. A sword stood on the pedestal, its blade buried in the rock.

"Why hasn't he taken the sword yet?" Myoga wondered out loud. "He must not be able to pull it out! Kagome, this is more proof that what I said was true; your father always intended the Tetsusaiga for you! You must retrieve the sword!"

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at Myoga's words, but Inuyasha ignored them all. He didn't care about the sword; he wanted to get payback. Inuyasha pulled the necklace Kaede had given him out of his pocket. Like she had told him to do, Inuyasha concentrated his power on the beads and pictured Sesshomaru in his head.

The beads lit up with power and flew towards Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru's eyes widened with surprise and he dodged to the side, but this time Sesshomaru could not move fast enough. The beads fastened around his neck and the moment they did Inuyasha said the word he'd thought of beforehand.

"Sit!"

Sesshomaru was a dog demon. It had seemed fitting.

The necklace glowed and Sesshomaru slammed face first into the ground.

"What have you done?" Jaken squawked.

Inuyasha smirked. That had felt good.

Sesshomaru shoved himself up, snarling with his eyes bleeding red.

"Sit!" Inuyasha snapped. Sesshomaru slammed back into the ground. "Sit, sit, sit, sit, _sit_!"

With each repetition of the word, Sesshomaru was pounded deeper into the ground, until he was in a small crater. Sesshomaru raised his head, still snarling. "I will kill you, human."

"Not today," Inuyasha replied. "Sit!"

Sesshomaru's head snapped back down into the ground.

"How dare you!" screeched Jaken and he pointed his staff at Inuyasha. Flames burst out of it, and Kagome jumped in the way, blocking the flames from Inuyasha.

Unable to see Sesshomaru and unsure how long exactly the necklace would keep him pinned, Inuyasha chanted, "Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit!"

When the flames died Inuyasha saw that Sesshomaru had covered half the distance between them before getting buried in a new, deeper crater than before. The spikes over his left shoulder cracked and then shattered from the repeated pounding.

Kagome kicked Jaken to the side to keep him from shooting his flames again.

Without taking his eyes off of Sesshomaru's unmoving form, Inuyasha said, "Kagome, go ahead and take the sword. Then we're out of here."

Kagome hesitated, looking between him and Sesshomaru. "Go!" Inuyasha snapped.

Kagome went to the pedestal and reached out for the sword. She grabbed the hilt and Inuyasha heard Jaken gasp. "How is she immune to the spell that thwarted Lord Sesshomaru?"

The sword glowed as Kagome pulled on it, then the glow faded and the sword was still stuck in the stone. "Myoga," Kagome said, glaring down at the flea on her shoulder, "if the sword is supposed to be mine, why can't I pull it out?"

"Your father was an eccentric person in some ways," Myoga said. "There may be some trick to drawing it."

Sesshomaru started to stand then, his movements slow and deliberate so Inuyasha could follow them. Inuyasha watched him like a hawk, ready to sit him the instant he made a threatening move. He was only a little reassured by the fact that Sesshomaru was no longer growling and his eyes weren't glowing red anymore.

"I will kill you," he said to Inuyasha. Inuyasha could tell it wasn't a threat or a promise, but Sesshomaru saw it as a simple statement of fact.

"Sit," Inuyasha said. Sesshomaru was dragged back to the ground. "Death threats get you sat, and attacking gets you sat. Avoid those and we should be okay."

Sesshomaru stood again, his movements still slow and deliberate so Inuyasha would know he didn't intend to attack. But if looks could kill, Inuyasha would have died a thousand deaths at that moment. Then Sesshomaru's body glowed and collapsed in on itself, turning into a ball of light, and shot out of the skeleton.

"Lord Sesshomaru, wait for me!" Jaken cried and scrambled after him.

When they were gone Inuyasha walked over to the pedestal. "Myoga, what's the trick for getting the sword loose?" Inuyasha asked.

"That I do not know," Myoga said. "But it was intended for Kagome; it must be something she can do."

"It doesn't even look like it's in that deep," Inuyasha said, reaching out to wiggle the sword. At his touch it easily slipped out of the rock.

"How did you do that?" Kagome gasped.

"I just touched it!" Inuyasha said.

Myoga laughed. "Of course! It takes a human to pull it out! I should have seen that coming."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked.

"Your father had that sword made so he could protect your mother," Myoga said. "A sword made to protect humans must be drawn by a human. Sesshomaru, with his hatred of humans, would never have been able to free the sword."

Inuyasha eyed the sword. It looked old and rusty, and was even nicked in some places. "It doesn't look that impressive to me," he said handing it over to Kagome.

"It is a powerful weapon," Myoga said. "Its power simply needs to be unlocked."

"How do I do that?" Kagome asked, hefting the sword.

"Think," Myoga said. "Why was it made?"

"To protect," Kagome said, then her eyes widened with understanding. "So I can unlock Tetsusaiga's power if I'm using it to protect someone?"

Myoga nodded. "I believe so."

"Well, if that's what it takes, I can't think of anyone more suited to that sword than you," Inuyasha said.

Kagome's lips curved up in a smile that seemed to light up her whole face. Standing there inside a giant skeleton, Inuyasha realized just how pretty she really was. "Thanks, Inuyasha. For everything."

Inuyasha turned away to hide his warm face. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just get out of here!"

"Okay," Kagome said, laughter in her voice.

_I might be in trouble._


	5. Chapter 5

The Toad Who Would be Prince

It was kind of weird, Inuyasha decided, to travel around the countryside with just a girl for company. He'd never really had any female friends before; the only females he interacted with consistently were Usagi and his mother, and Inuyasha wasn't sure how much they really counted given one was only ten and the other was, well, his mother. Now that no one was actively trying to kill him and Kagome or steal their jewel shards, Inuyasha wasn't even sure what they were supposed to talk about.

_Although, technically speaking, I guess we're not totally alone._

Myoga had decided to stick around for a while, and the flea demon was surprisingly chatty. Not that Inuyasha minded, because Myoga also proved to be a wealth of information on demons, and Inuyasha had a lot of questions about what kind of demons they might encounter and how best to fight them.

"So," Inuyasha said, after Myoga's latest lesson as they walked along a dusty dirt road that was more of a path than a road, "raccoon demons are tricksters but mostly harmless, while fox demons are tricksters but actually dangerous."

"Correct," Myoga said. "An adult raccoon demon isn't going to pose much of a threat. Even without spiritual abilities, a well trained human could probably defeat one. A full grown fox demon is quite another story however. Their illusions are far more dangerous."

"It still seems weird to think an illusion can be dangerous," Inuyasha said. "I mean, I get they could make a person run off a cliff or into a bog or something, but other than that, how are they that threatening?"

"It's because your mind tricks you," Kagome answered. "If your mind is convinced that you've been stabbed by a real sword, you're going to feel pain. Also, if your mind thinks you should be dead, it just stops working. That's why their illusions are so dangerous."

"And of course you can't go into a fight with a fox demon and think everything they do is an illusion," Myoga said. "After all, some of their attacks are real, and will kill you whether you believe in them or not."

It all seemed very confusing to Inuyasha. Things that were real but weren't at the same time and were still very dangerous either way just didn't compute well in his mind. He was at heart a very literal person.

"But of course," Myoga said quite smugly, "no fox demon could possibly stand up to the power of Tetsusaiga."

Inuyasha glanced doubtfully at the sword hanging on Kagome's hip. Despite the power Myoga claimed the sword had, it seemed fairly useless to Inuyasha. The blade was rusty, chipped and dull to the point where Inuyasha wasn't convinced it could cut wet paper.

"Do you even know how to use the sword?" Inuyasha asked Kagome.

Kagome blushed. "No-o," she said, dragging the word out so it had two syllables. "I've never fought with any kind of weapon before."

"I'm sure Kagome will pick it up easily," Myoga said.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Fighting well isn't something you just pick up. You have to train to truly master it. I've been training for years with Sensei, which is why I'm such a good martial artist. Now he's going to teach me how to properly use this," Inuyasha said, waving his staff for emphasis. "It's a pity he can't teach you how to use that thing…" Inuyasha trailed off and his eyes widened. He grinned as he came up with possibly the most brilliant plan he'd ever thought of.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Kagome asked suspiciously.

"Because Sensei _can_ train you!" Inuyasha said. "You can go through the well to my time just like I can. Sensei is an expert in all kinds of fighting styles. I know he could teach you how to use a sword."

Kagome seemed intrigued by the offer. "Do you really think he would?"

"I don't see why he wouldn't," Inuyasha said. "Training people is what he does."

"Your sensei is a trained swordsman?" Myoga asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah, sure," Inuyasha said. "He's got a ton of swords."

Myoga rubbed his chin. "Well, it certainly couldn't hurt for Kagome to have a teacher. Perhaps if she trains, she will learn how to draw out the true power of Tetsusaiga."

"Will it bother him that I'm a half breed?" Kagome asked. She tried to make the question sound casual, but Inuyasha could tell from the way she wouldn't quite meet his eyes that it was anything but.

"Of course not," Inuyasha said. "The only thing Sensei cares about is whether or not you want to learn. As long as you want that, he'll teach you."

Kagome met his gaze then and smiled, which made Inuyasha's stomach do a funny little flip that he really didn't appreciate. "In that case," she said, "I'd be honored to learn from him." She glanced down the road ahead of them, and then back at Inuyasha. "We've been traveling this way for three days now and you haven't sensed a jewel shard, so what do you say we head back? It'd probably be a good idea to get some training in before we meet up with anyone extremely dangerous anyway."

"That's fine with me," Inuyasha said, glancing at the backpack he had slung over his shoulders. "I'm starting to get low on food, so it'd be nice to get back before we run completely out."

Just as he finished speaking, a small white monkey dropped out of an overhanging tree branch and landed on Inuyasha's backpack. "Hey!" Inuyasha shouted. "Get off of me!"

He whirled around, trying to grab the monkey, but he couldn't reach the small creature and in the end he only managed to look like a dog chasing its tail.

"Stay still and I'll get it!" Kagome fussed at him, only to be ignored.

Inuyasha tried to hit the monkey with his staff, but the creature nimbly dodged his attempt and jumped off of his backpack and back up into a tree. However, it was clutching Inuyasha's last bag of potato chips.

"Hey!" Inuyasha yelled. "Give those back!"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "It's just one bag of food, Inuyasha."

"They're my favorite flavor!" Inuyasha snapped at her. No one stole his chips; not even a monkey!

The monkey dashed into the woods and Inuyasha followed. Despite its agility, Inuyasha was able to keep it in his sight. They left the small woods, and the monkey dashed up a hill. At the top of the hill was a solitary tree, and sitting under the tree was a young samurai.

The monkey dashed to the samurai and dropped the chips in his lap. Inuyasha followed close behind and glared at the young man. "Give me back those potato chips!"

The young man opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a word his eyes widened and then something hit Inuyasha on the back of his head.

"Ow! What was that for?" he demanded, glaring at Kagome.

Kagome glared back. "That's for not listening to me! Don't just go running off like that!"

"Why not?" Inuyasha argued. "It's not like you can't keep up with me."

"That isn't the point," Kagome said, her hands on her hips in a classic ticked off female sort of way.

"Um, excuse me?" said a nervous male voice.

"What?" Inuyasha and Kagome snapped at the same time, glaring at the samurai.

He held out the bag of chips to Inuyasha. "I believe my monkey took these from you?"

Inuyasha went to snatch the chips back, but just then the young man's stomach audibly growled causing Inuyasha to hesitate.

"How long has it been since you've eaten?" Kagome asked with a concerned frown.

"About two days," the young man said, "but I'd never want to steal food from someone else!"

There was something in the guy's earnest face that reminded Inuyasha of his best friend at school, and he sighed. "Just keep it. I think you need it more than I do."

The guy's face brightened considerably at Inuyasha's words. "Thank you so much! You are too kind!"

"Yeah, sure," Inuyasha said. _I guess I can always get more when I go home._

The guy opened the bag and eagerly dug into the food.

"So, what's your name?" Kagome asked.

The guy hastily swallowed. "I cannot give you my name because I am on a mission," he said. "However, my family name is Nobunaga."

_Nobunaga…Isn't that the name of some important guy we learned about in history?_ Inuyasha couldn't remember for sure. At any rate, Inuyasha couldn't see this guy being important for anything, and it wasn't like Inuyasha cared about history after all.

But one thing Nobunaga had said did interest Inuyasha. "So, what kind of quest are you on?"

"Well," Nobunaga said, apparently made talkative by their gift of food, "in a nearby town the Lord of the area is said to have gone insane, and is taking women from the villages. But this Lord recently married the daughter of my master, Princess Tsuyu."

Nobunaga struck a dramatic pose, determination practically radiating from him. "If these stories of the local Lord are true, then I must rescue Princess Tsuyu from him!"

Inuyasha had never seen a cheesier declaration of devotion from anyone. That Nobunaga was in love with this Princess Tsuyu was pathetically obvious, despite the fact that Inuyasha didn't usually pick up on these things.

Nobunaga smiled bravely at them. "I thank you both for your help, but now I must be on my way." He started to march off and Inuyasha called after him.

"Dude, don't go that way!"

There was a yelp and a crash as Nobunaga found the far side of the hill unexpectedly steep.

Kagome sighed. "Inuyasha, I know we were going to go back, but…"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said. "If we leave this guy alone he's liable to get himself killed." It wasn't like they were really in a rush to get back, and maybe they'd be lucky and find another jewel shard during this little side trip.

Kagome was able to lead the way to a nearby village. She said she could smell it in the distance.

This made Inuyasha realize that despite the fact that Kagome obviously wasn't human, Nobunaga hadn't said a word about it. This kind of surprised Inuyasha, given how strongly everyone else he'd met in the Feudal Era had reacted to this fact. He wanted to ask Nobunaga why Kagome not being human didn't bother him, but he didn't think it would be good to ask in front of Kagome.

_It's just weird. I'd have thought he'd be all freaked out over it or something. But in the long run, I guess it's better that he isn't upset over it._

When they made it to the village, they saw soldiers from the castle leading away several young women. Inuyasha's eyes narrowed when he saw that their hands were tied and they were being led more like livestock than people.

"So the rumors are true," Nobunaga said grimly. "I must rescue Princess Tsuyu!"

"Not just her," Kagome said, also watching the women get led away. "We need to rescue those poor girls too!"

"Then let's go get them!" Inuyasha said and barreled out of the bushes they were hiding in. Kagome cried out for him to stop, but Inuyasha ignored her. There were shouts of surprise from startled villagers as he dashed past them to the nearest soldier who had no time to prepare himself before Inuyasha's fist connected with his face. The soldier dropped like a sack of rocks and Inuyasha turned to fiercely glare at the other soldiers.

"Let the girls go now!" he demanded.

"The people of this land belong to the local Lord to do with as he wills," one of the soldiers snapped. "For standing in our way, you will be punished. Get him!"

Inuyasha suddenly realized he was outnumbered ten to one, and unlike the bandits he had fought before, these soldiers were well armed and armored, and they had obviously had plenty of training.

_Okay, maybe not my brightest idea ever._

Kagome and Nobunaga appeared, each taking down a soldier so they could get to Inuyasha's side. "Inuyasha, what do you think you're doing?" Kagome snapped.

"Trying to rescue the women!" he said. "Isn't that what we said we were going to do?"

"Demon!" yelled the leader of the soldiers. "Kill it!"

Kagome's ears flattened back on her head at the words. Before Inuyasha could think of an appropriate insult to call the soldiers, they attacked en mass, and Inuyasha was hard pressed to keep from getting stabbed. He blocked a swipe of a sword with his staff and really wished he'd had a few more lessons with it before he'd returned to the Feudal Era.

In the end, it was Kagome who took down the soldiers. Making use of her superior speed, Kagome was able to quickly knock out all of the soldiers, including the one that was harassing Inuyasha. Although glad not to have someone trying to stab him anymore, Inuyasha couldn't stop the flash of irritation he felt when he realized that Kagome had saved him, again. He wanted to be strong enough to protect himself.

Trying to smother his irritation, Inuyasha turned to the women who were still tied up. "Don't worry, you're safe now," he said, reaching out to undo the ropes binding them, but they shrank away from him.

"Stay away from us!" they cried.

Inuyasha froze, taken aback by their reaction.

"What have you done?" demanded an old man that was probably a village elder.

Inuyasha's temper flared. "What does it look like? We just saved these women that you all were too scared to save!"

"Fool!" the elder said. "You haven't saved anyone! Now that you've attacked his soldiers, the Lord will blame us and seek vengeance on us and attack our village! Now our young women won't simply be taken from us; we will be killed."

Inuyasha felt as if the ground had dropped out from under him. How was he supposed to know that would happen?

"Leave us!" the elder ordered. "You have done enough damage already."

Kagome grabbed Inuyasha's arm and dragged him away, Nobunaga following. "This is what I was trying to tell you," Kagome hissed at him when they made it back into the shelter of the trees. "You can't just go barging into situations like that; you need to stop and think! And quit ignoring me when I speak to you!"

Inuyasha yanked his arm out of her grasp, pride stinging. Yes, he'd screwed up, but he didn't need her rubbing his face in that fact. Before he could respond, Nobunaga cleared his throat to get both of their attention.

"Perhaps we should make our way to the castle?" he said, his voice politely neutral.

"Do you have any idea where it is?" Kagome asked.

"It looked like the soldiers were following that road," Nobunaga said. "I'd suggest we do the same. But we should probably stay off of it."

"Come on then," Kagome said, taking the lead. Nobunaga followed her, and Inuyasha took the rear position, hanging back from them a few feet.

"Would you like to talk about it?" Myoga's voice asked from Inuyasha's shoulder, making him jump with surprise.

Inuyasha glared down at the flea. "Don't do that! And no, I don't."

"If you say so," Myoga replied.

Inuyasha glared at Kagome's back. "It isn't fair," he grumbled. "I was just trying to help them."

And he'd only succeeded in making things worse.

"Perhaps that can yet be managed," Myoga said. "But Inuyasha, you can never fix anything by targeting symptoms. You must fix the cause, which, in this case, is the local Lord."

Inuyasha's scowl deepened. "So, what? I should have let those soldiers take off with those girls?"

"For now," Myoga said. "Then when we got to the castle we could have saved all of them, while handling the cause of the problem, without the upset that's happened now."

As his temper cooled a little, Inuyasha realized that what Myoga was saying sounded a lot like some of the lessons his Sensei had tried to teach him. To _think_ instead of just reacting. To plan his actions, and to consider their potential consequences. Good intentions meant nothing if the consequences were bad, and the consequences in this particular case were that those villagers might end up dead.

"If we're planning, how are we supposed to handle the Lord?" Inuyasha grumbled. "Ask him nicely to stop kidnapping girls?"

"It may be that we will not see a solution until we reach the castle," Myoga said.

"Some help you are," Inuyasha muttered.

It took much longer than Inuyasha expected for them to reach the castle. By the time they arrived, night had fallen and the stars were out.

"How do we get in?" Nobunaga asked, eying the walls.

Inuyasha frowned as he stared at them. He felt a sort of tugging in his spirit, a distant brightness that called to him. "Kagome," he said, "I think there's a jewel shard in there."

She looked over at him sharply. "You're sure?"

"Pretty sure," Inuyasha replied.

"That might serve to explain why the Lord is acting in this manner," Myoga said. "It could be the influence of the jewel."

"We'll have to get in to find out," Kagome said. She crouched down and looked back at Nobunaga and Inuyasha. "Hold on to me, I'll get us over the wall."

Inuyasha and Nobunaga both hesitated. "I know you are strong," Nobunaga said, "but are you sure you can carry us both?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Yes, I can carry you both. I'm not exactly human, remember?"

Nobunaga seemed to get over his reluctance quickly then, holding on to her shoulders. Inuyasha glared at the samurai, irritated for no reason that he could name. Inuyasha marched over and took hold of her as well.

He could feel her body tense, and then suddenly they were flying through the air. They soared over the wall and landed lightly in some well tended gardens.

"Be careful," Nobunaga said. "We don't want to alert the guards."

Kagome's ears twitched and she frowned. "I don't think we'll have to worry about them," she said.

"Why not?" Inuyasha asked.

She motioned for them to follow and led the way to some stairs that led up to the castle itself. At the bottom of the stairs were two guards, slumped over and completely asleep.

"I can't hear anyone moving around in the castle," Kagome said. "I think they're all asleep."

"This doesn't seem normal," Myoga said. "It could be that the whole castle is enchanted."

"Makes things easier for us," Inuyasha said.

"Princess Tsuyu!"

Kagome and Inuyasha both jumped at the shout. Nobunaga was dashing up the stairs to the castle calling for his princess.

"Shut up, stupid, you're going to wake everyone up!" Inuyasha yelled.

Kagome sighed. "Come on, Inuyasha."

They dashed after Nobunaga, who had a good lead on them at this point. Still, he wasn't hard to follow, calling out for Princess Tsuyu and slamming open doors in his search.

"Good thing everyone is in an enchanted sleep," Kagome said, "or you two would have alerted the whole place that we're here."

"What do you mean, us two?" Inuyasha asked.

"Princess Tsuyu!" Nobunaga cried again, but this time there was a different note to his voice. He dashed into a room and Kagome and Inuyasha followed him inside. They found him cradling a beautiful young woman in his arms. "Oh, Princess Tsuyu, what has been done to you?"

"Looks like she's in the same enchanted sleep as everyone else," Inuyasha said.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," Myoga said and jumped off of Inuyasha's shoulder and onto Princess Tsuyu's cheek. Myoga bit her, and moments later her hand came up and flattened him.

Princess Tsuyu's eyes blinked open, and she stared up at them in confusion. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Princess Tsuyu, I have been sent by your father to rescue you," Nobunaga said.

Her brown eyes widened. "My father sent you?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. Princess Tsuyu might be pretty, but she seemed just a little slow on the uptake to him.

"Excuse me," Kagome said, gaining the Princess's attention. Inuyasha tensed, ready for her to react to Kagome's presence with fear, but Princess Tsuyu only blinked with mild surprise at Kagome's appearance.

Maybe the princess wasn't all that bad.

"We'd like to rescue all the village women the Lord has been taking," Kagome said. "Do you know where they are, or why the Lord is taking them in the first place?"

The princess's face pulled down into a pretty frown. "I'm afraid I don't know," she said. "Not too long ago, my Lord fell into the garden pond. He was fished out quickly, but he came down with a terrible fever. When he recovered from his fever he started wearing bandages so no one could see his face and acting very strange. That was when he started ordering the young women to be brought here from the villages. He hides them somewhere in the castle, but I don't know where and I'm not allowed to ask anything about them."

"So, what, you haven't even looked for them?" Inuyasha asked in disbelief.

"How could I?" the princess asked. "It was forbidden to me."

"And?" Inuyasha snapped. "Have you never heard of disobeying someone?"

"Inuyasha, leave Princess Tsuyu alone," Nobunaga said, looking angry for the first time since Inuyasha had met him. "She isn't a warrior, and there was nothing she could to help those women! I'm only thankful that the Lord hasn't harmed her yet."

_What's being a warrior got to do with helping people?_ Inuyasha bit his tongue before the question came out. Starting an argument right now wouldn't help anyone.

"Ahem," Myoga said from Kagome's shoulder, gaining everyone's attention. "I wanted to say that, based on Princess Tsuyu's story, it sounds as though the Lord may have been possessed by a demon from the pond."

"What kind of demon lives in a pond?" Inuyasha asked.

"Not powerful ones, usually," Myoga said. "Toads, fish, and the like. Normally, these don't get strong enough to actually possess someone."

Inuyasha blanched. "But there's a jewel shard here," he said.

Myoga nodded grimly. "Yes," he said. "With a jewel shard, even a lowly demon like that would become powerful enough to possess a human."

_That means…this is my fault._

If he hadn't shattered the jewel, then whatever had possessed the Lord would never have had the ability to do so.

_Whatever happened to those girls is my fault._

Inuyasha turned and went back out into the hallway. "Nobunaga, get the princess out of here," Inuyasha said. "Kagome, come on. We've got to find the Lord and stop him."

"Wait!" Princess Tsuyu said, scrambling to her feet. "Please, don't hurt him! Even if he has been possessed by something, he's still my husband." Tears filled her eyes. "He was a good man, before all this happened. Please."

Inuyasha saw the way Nobunaga flinched at the princess's words and felt sorry for the samurai. It looked like Nobunaga had never really had a chance with her.

"We'll do our best," Kagome said. "Hopefully we can find a way to make whatever is possessing him leave."

Inuyasha's head snapped to the side as he sensed the jewel shard suddenly growing closer. "Heads up, Kagome, he's coming!"

Nobunaga grabbed Princess Tsuyu's hand and pulled her the opposite way down the hall. "Come on, we have to get you out of here!"

They ran as Kagome and Inuyasha braced themselves to meet the Lord, or whatever was left of him. A figure came around the corner, stocky, with an oddly shaped head covered in bandages. "Who are you?" he said in a strange, nasally sort of voice.

"What have you done with the women you kidnapped?" Inuyasha demanded in return.

The Lord seemed to look past them and saw Nobunaga with Princess Tsuyu. "Give me back my princess!" he demanded stepping forward.

Kagome moved in front of Inuyasha and drew her sword in one fluid motion. "Stay back!" she snapped. At her words, the sword suddenly pulsed and flared with light. When the light faded, the blade had changed from a rusty chipped thing to an oversized monster of a sword.

"Behold, the Tetsusaiga's true form!" Myoga said from Inuyasha's shoulder.

"What are you doing over here?" Inuyasha snapped.

Kagome brandished her sword at the Lord. "Release the Lord, whoever you are!"

The figure stopped for a moment, and then laughter welled up and bubbled out of it. "So you know," it said and reached up for the bandages around its face. The bandages fell away to reveal a green, toad like face. It leered at them. "I like this body! I'm not giving it up; it's good for collecting souls!"

Collecting souls? Was that what he was doing to those women? Stealing their souls?

_But, without a soul there isn't any afterlife. No heaven or hell or reincarnation. Just…nothingness._

It was the worst fate Inuyasha could imagine.

"You monster," Inuyasha growled, and then charged past Kagome. Swinging his staff, he landed a solid blow on the Lord's stomach, doubling him over. Before he had a chance to recover, Inuyasha brought the staff down on his head, sending the toad to the ground.

"Inuyasha, stop!" Kagome said before Inuyasha could hit him again.

Inuyasha glared down at the prone body. "Why should I?"

"He's unconscious," Kagome said. "Hit him in the head like that again and you might kill him."

Inuyasha stepped back. Laying her sword down, Kagome knelt down and flipped his body over. "Inuyasha, where is the jewel shard? If we can get that out, he might go back to normal."

Inuyasha studied his body. "There, in his chest."

Kagome pushed open the Lord's shirt and frowned. "I don't see anything."

Inuyasha looked closer and swore. "It's _inside_ his chest."

"That makes sense," Myoga spoke up, "since the shard is actually in the toad's possession, not the Lord's."

"Then how do we get it out?" Inuyasha asked.

"We must exorcize the toad first, if we do not wish to kill the Lord," Myoga said.

The toad's eyes flickered open and Inuyasha and Kagome both jumped back, Kagome snatching up Tetsusaiga as she did so. But this time the toad's eyes looked different; no longer a reptilian gold, they were brown and human looking, not to mention confused.

"What's going on?" he asked. His voice sounded different as well, not so nasally, and more human. He looked down at his green hands and his already large eyes widened even more. "Oh no," he said. "No! I had thought it was just a long nightmare, but it was real!" He pressed his hands to his face and shuddered. "Oh, what monstrous things I have done!"

Kagome lowered her sword. "You're the Lord of these lands?"

He looked up at them and pushed himself up to his knees. "Yes, I am." He looked beseechingly at Kagome. "Please, kill me, while I am in my right mind. Don't let me hurt anyone else, I beg of you."

She stared at him for a minute, her grip tightening on the sword hilt until her knuckles were white. Then Kagome sheathed her sword. "No, I won't kill you. We're going to find a way to free you from the toad demon. But first, you must show us where he's been keeping the women, and quickly, before he takes control again."

The Lord nodded. "Very well. Maybe some of them can still be saved."

He led them back the way they had come, down twisting halls until they arrived at a set of doors that were slightly larger than most. He slid them open and Inuyasha's jaw dropped at what he saw. There were at least thirty women in there, maybe more, all encased in egg sacs of some kind. They were all naked, and most seemed a bit transparent.

"The liquid in the sacs slowly erodes away their bodies, leaving only the soul," the Lord said. "And then…and then he…I…consume them." Tears streaming down his face, he turned to Kagome and Inuyasha again. "Please, now you see the full truth! For the good of my people, you must kill me!"

"We'll definitely kill that toad," Inuyasha growled, unable to take his eyes off the terrible sight before him. Someone had to have known what was happening to these women, with as many people as lived in the castle. Why had no one done anything?

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled, and pain exploded in Inuyasha's shoulder.

Inuyasha looked back at the Lord, whose eyes had shifted from brown back to gold, and evil seemed to dance on the creature's maliciously smiling face. The toad jerked its head and Inuyasha realized then that it had stabbed him with its super long, and apparently super strong, tongue. Inuyasha stumbled back into the wall clutching his wounded shoulder, and trying not to cry out with pain.

Kagome drew the Tetsusaiga again, putting herself between the toad and Inuyasha. The toad laughed at her. "What are you going to do?" he sneered. "You don't want to kill me, not when it means you'll kill the Lord too."

"I don't want to," Kagome said, "but I will if I have to!"

_No, no you can't_, Inuyasha thought. Because most of those women were probably already dead, and that was Inuyasha's fault. If Kagome was forced to kill the Lord, she'd end up feeling incredibly guilty; she was too nice not to feel guilty. And that would be Inuyasha's fault too.

_I'm supposed to be a priest; maybe I can purify the toad!_

But how when he couldn't reach the toad, and couldn't reliably summon his power?

Kagome lunged, thrusting Tetsusaiga at the toad. It tried to dodge, but it wasn't as fast as Kagome. Still, it managed to move enough that she didn't get his chest like she'd been aiming for, but his shoulder. Her blade plunged deep into his flesh and the toad cried out with pain.

Inuyasha knew he had to act now, before Kagome could do any more. Pushing past his pain, Inuyasha thrust his staff into the toad's side so he wouldn't have to keep walking. Hoping to use the staff as a conduit like he had the stick when he'd tackled Yura's hairball, Inuyasha reached deep within himself for his power. This time it flared to life in pink crackles that shot down the staff and covered the toad. He screamed, and Kagome jumped back to avoid being caught up with him.

A light shot up out of the Lord's body, and for just a moment Inuyasha could see a toad hanging in the air. Then it disintegrated and a jewel shard dropped to the floor. Laying his staff aside, Inuyasha picked up the jewel. Then he looked back over at the Lord, who was once again human, though his shoulder was injured.

His beady brown eyes blinked open and he stared up at them. "I'm free," he said. "The both of you have my eternal thanks." He tried to sit up and winced in pain as he moved his shoulder.

"Let me help," Kagome said, putting away Tetsusaiga. She got the Lord into a sitting position and did the same for Inuyasha.

Footsteps came rushing down the hall and suddenly castle guards appeared. "My Lord!" they cried at seeing him injured. They brandished their weapons with murder in their eyes, but the Lord called for them to halt.

"Put away your weapons!" he ordered. "These two have saved me, and have saved our people. They are to be treated with honor." He winced. "Send for a healer, and have someone check on Princess Tsuyu. Also, begin opening these egg sacs and freeing the women." He looked away, pain shadowing his eyes. "Perhaps some can be saved, and if not, at least their souls may be free to move on to the afterlife."

"Princess Tsuyu is safe," Kagome said. "A samurai, Nobunaga, was sent by her father to make sure of it. He was supposed to have gotten her out of the castle by now; I'll go find them and let them know it is safe to come back."

"Please do," the Lord said.

Kagome left and soon the healer arrived. The older woman tended to the Lord's injuries first, and then Inuyasha's. During the whole process, Inuyasha watched as the guards cut open the sacs to release the women. Most of the time when a sac was opened, a glowing white orb that Inuyasha soon realized must be their souls drifted out. A few times there was a body, but the woman was still dead. In the end, only five of the women were still alive when they were retrieved from the sacs.

"How can I ever fix this?" the Lord asked quietly.

Inuyasha was wondering the same thing.

Kagome returned soon after with Princess Tsuyu and Nobunaga. Princess Tsuyu ran to her husband. "My Lord! You are alive!"

They embraced, and the Lord turned to another of his men. "Have rooms prepared for our guests. They will need rest." He turned to Inuyasha, Kagome, and Nobunaga. "The three of you are welcome to stay for however long you like. When you leave you will be given provisions for your way."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said. But glancing back at the room that was filled with the slime from inside the sacs and still held the bodies of the dead women, Inuyasha knew he wanted to leave as soon as possible.


	6. Chapter 6

Enter Shippo, and the Amazing Thunder Brothers

_Pale faces with dead eyes stared at Inuyasha. Every way he turned they were there, silent and accusing, as numerous as the stars overhead._

"_I'm sorry!" he called out. "I'm sorry! I didn't know this would happen!"_

_The silence deepened. What did sorry matter when his mistake had cost them their lives? For some, their very souls? _Sorry_ meant nothing._

_Their eyes glowed a hellish red, and slime poured down on Inuyasha. It soaked his clothes, matted his hair, swirled up around his body. It forced its way down his mouth, up his nose, choking him, filling him, consuming him, so there would be nothing left, not even a soul to be remembered._

Heart pounding, Inuyasha jerked awake. He sat up with a gasp as pale morning light filtered in through the bedroom window. His heart rate slowed as he realized it had only been a nightmare.

"Guess I should have expected it," he muttered, shuddering as images from the night before rose fresh in his mind. He wondered if Kagome and Nobunaga had had nightmares as well, but figured they probably hadn't. They hadn't seemed nearly as shocked about the dead bodies as he had been last night.

Inuyasha stood and stretched, using the movement to banish the nightmare from his mind. He didn't want Kagome, Myoga, or Nobunaga realizing he'd had a nightmare. Knowing the three of them, they'd want him to talk about it, and Inuyasha just wasn't in the mood.

As Inuyasha finished readying himself for the day, there came a soft knock on the door. "Come in," Inuyasha called.

The door slid open to reveal a servant. "Breakfast is ready, sir," the older woman said.

"Okay, thanks," Inuyasha said. He shoved the last of his stuff in his backpack. "I'm ready."

The woman led Inuyasha to the dining room, where he found the Lord, Princess Tsuyu, and Nobunaga already waiting. A moment later Kagome joined them as well, and a delicious breakfast was served.

During the meal the Lord asked, "Would you like to stay longer, or will you need to leave today?"

"Kagome and I should be going today," Inuyasha said.

"We are very grateful for your hospitality though," Kagome said.

The Lord nodded. "You are most welcome to it. Before you leave, Inuyasha, I will have my healer look at your shoulder one more time, and give you some medicines for it."

Inuyasha nodded his thanks. Despite the pain of his injury the night before, it had turned out to not be quite as bad as he'd feared, though it was still bad enough. Inuyasha could still use his left arm, but not without pain, and he was eager to get back to his time and get what he considered real medical attention.

"I should be on my way as well," Nobunaga said. "I will need to report to Princess Tsuyu's father that all is well."

"Of course," the Lord said. "I will provide all of you with supplies for your trip."

"You are most generous," Nobunaga said with a smile that didn't hold the same cheer Inuyasha had seen in him before.

_That's right; he's in love with the Princess._ Inuyasha winced with sympathy. It had to be rough watching the woman he loved with another man. Unfortunately for Nobunaga, there was nothing he could do in this particular situation.

The meal came to an end and the old healer woman examined Inuyasha's shoulder again. She smothered it with some foul smelling medicine and bandaged it again. She handed him a small bag and said, "There is a jar of medicine in here to prevent infection. You should apply it every morning and evening. There are also extra bandages in there. You should put clean ones on every morning."

"Thanks, I appreciate it," Inuyasha said. The old woman nodded and walked away.

Some other servants brought bags of supplies, which Kagome insisted on carrying because of Inuyasha's injury.

Before they left, the Lord thanked them once more for their help. "I don't know how long this evil would have gone on if the three of you had not come. If you ever have need of anything, you only have to ask and I will do whatever is in my power to give it to you."

"We're just glad we could help," Kagome said.

_And get another piece of the jewel,_ Inuyasha added mentally.

They left, and it wasn't long before Nobunaga needed to part ways from them. "I enjoyed meeting the two of you," he said warmly. "Perhaps one day we'll run into each other again." The monkey on his shoulder nodded his head as if he agreed.

"That would be fun," Kagome said smiling brightly at him. "Travel safe!"

"You two as well!" he said, waving as he walked away.

"How is your shoulder?" Kagome asked once Nobunaga was gone.

"Fine," Inuyasha said. It ached, but there was nothing Kagome could do about that so there was no point in complaining.

They both fell quiet a moment and then Kagome said, "Inuyasha, I didn't get a chance to say this last night, but thank you for purifying the toad. If you hadn't been able to do that…"

In the silence after she trailed off, Inuyasha asked, "Would you have really killed him? Knowing the Lord was still alive in there?"

"Yes," Kagome said quietly, but with firmness in her voice. "The toad was using the Lord's position to murder those women and consume their souls. He would never have stopped until he was forced to do so. I wouldn't have liked it, but if there had been no other choice, I would have killed him."

Inuyasha let his gaze drift up to the sky. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Killing the toad was one thing; it was obviously a monster that deserved death for all the innocent people it had murdered. But the Lord hadn't been. He was a victim as much as the women that had been killed.

But despite being a victim, during his brief moment of control the Lord had begged them to kill him. He'd clearly shown he'd rather be dead than used to hurt his subjects. He would have accepted Kagome killing him, and been grateful for her actions. It was a way of life that was incredibly different from what Inuyasha was used to.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome asked, an uncertain frown on her face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," he said. "I think I get what you're saying. The toad had to be stopped one way or another or a lot more innocent people would have been killed." He scowled and scuffed the dusty path with a shoe. "Doesn't mean I like it."

"I don't either," Kagome said.

"Most good people don't," Myoga added in. "Unfortunately, in this day and age, death and killing are simply a part of life."

And Inuyasha just wasn't used to that. Sure he had trained in martial arts his whole life, and he'd been in plenty of fights, but he'd never killed anyone, and had never really expected to in his life.

_I guess I kind of already have._

After all, his purification had killed the toad, which was intelligent and therefore technically a person. But the toad had been so inhuman that Inuyasha felt like it didn't really count. Shying away from the direction his thoughts were taking him in, Inuyasha blurted out, "I'm getting hungry. How about we stop for lunch?"

"Okay," Kagome said. She set down the bags she'd been carrying and Inuyasha started to dig through them for food. Before he'd managed to pull out all the supplies he needed to heat a cup of raman, the air around them seemed to darken. Blue flames swirled in front of Inuyasha, causing him to stumble back in alarm.

"Hand over your jewel shards, or prepare to face my wrath!" a voice demanded from the flames.

Inuyasha frowned. That voice sounded like…a kid?

There was a pop and the flames vanished to reveal a giant pink balloon like creature. Kagome sighed and shook her head. "Do you really think that form is intimidating?"

Inuyasha could have sworn it looked flustered, but it was kind of hard to tell since it was basically a balloon. "Hand over your jewel shards!" it demanded gamely.

"Is this thing for real?" Inuyasha asked.

The thing lunged at Kagome, but she neatly sidestepped it and poked it with a claw. There was another popping sound and the balloon creature transformed into a small child with red hair a bushy fox tail. Remembering Myoga's lessons, Inuyasha said, "It's a fox demon!"

Kagome crossed her arms and looked down at him sternly. "What do you want with our jewel shards?"

The fox demon glared up at her. "That's none of your business, half breed!"

Inuyasha cuffed him upside the head, causing him to yelp. "Be polite, you little brat! Her name is Kagome, use it!"

The kid glared up at him, rubbing the back of his head. "You jerk! Take this!" He whipped out a leaf and stuck it to Inuyasha's face.

Annoyed, Inuyasha brushed the leaf off. "What's that even supposed to do?"

The fox demon's jaw dropped. "No way, how could you do that?"

"Hey, listen," Kagome said, crouching down so she was closer to the child's height. "We can't give you our jewel shards. However, if you tell us what you need them for, we might be able to help you."

He hesitated, seeming to consider her offer. Then he whipped out a small figurine from under his vest and said, "No thanks!" He tossed the figurine at Kagome who instinctively caught it. As soon as it touched her it grew in size, pinning Kagome's hands to the ground. The kid slapped a piece of paper on it and then jumped back with a grin.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha said, starting towards her. Before he took more than one step, the fox demon blurred past him.

"Thanks for the jewel shards!" he called as he dashed down the dirt road.

Inuyasha's hand shot into his pocket only to find the jewel shards were missing. "You little brat!" he shouted as he started to run after him.

"Inuyasha wait!" Kagome yelled and Myoga said at the same time, "Hold on, Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha skidded to a stop. "But he's getting away!"

"I can't get out from under this thing," Kagome said, frantically tugging at her hands that were trapped under the statue.

Inuyasha eyed it doubtfully as he walked back to her. "It doesn't look that heavy."

"It's fox demon magic," Myoga said. "You'll have to remove the paper to free Kagome."

Inuyasha tugged the paper off and the statue shrank to its original size. Kagome stood and stretched. "Thanks. Now let's catch that kid!"

They ran in the direction that the fox demon had disappeared in. Kagome took the lead, which irritated Inuyasha, but though she outdistanced him, Kagome never disappeared from his sight.

_She could though. She could be after that little brat so fast I wouldn't stand a chance of catching up._

The thought stung Inuyasha's pride, so he shoved it away to focus on the task at hand. He could sense the jewel shards getting closer, so they were closing in on the fox demon. They came to a field of tall grass and then both stumbled to a halt in surprise. Ahead, the fox demon was cowering in a trembling heap on the ground while a hulking demon loomed over him. The demon had his back towards Kagome and Inuyasha and so didn't notice their arrival.

"Hand over your jewel shards you little runt and I'll kill you quickly," the demon was saying. He patted a fox pelt wrapped around his waist. "I'll add your fur to this; it's getting a little snug."

The kid's eyes went to the pelt, and Inuyasha could just barely hear him whimper, "Father."

_Wait, what? That's his father's fur?_ Suddenly Inuyasha was pretty sure he could guess why the kid had wanted their jewel shards, and it really ticked him off.

"Hey, ugly!" Kagome snapped, drawing Tetsusaiga. "Why don't you try picking on someone who can actually fight back?"

The demon whirled around in surprise. He really was ugly, with pasty skin, an exaggerated teardrop shaped head, and no hair worth mentioning. But what really caught Inuyasha's attention was the jewel shards embedded in his forehead.

"Look out, Kagome, he has jewel shards!" Inuyasha said.

"I see them," she replied without taking her eyes off the demon.

"You pathetic little half breed," the demon growled. "Do you really think you can defeat Manten of the Thunder Brothers?"

"I really do," Kagome said, and rushed him.

Knowing there wasn't really anything he could do to help Kagome in her fight, Inuyasha decided to do what he could and get their shards back from the fox demon. Luckily, the kid was too distracted by Kagome's fight with Manten to notice Inuyasha sneaking up on him until it was too late to get away. Inuyasha snatched him up by the back of his shirt. "Alright, brat, hand them over."

"Hey, let go!" he said, trying to squirm out of Inuyasha's grip.

"Those jewel shards are mine!" Manten yelled. He opened his jaws wide and shot a glowing beam of light at them. Inuyasha's eyes widened; there was no way he could dodge it.

But then Kagome was between them, and she used Tetsusaiga to block the attack. _Whoa,_ Inuyasha thought. _That actually looked really cool._

"Inuyasha, take the kid and get out of here!" Kagome said.

Inuyasha bristled, though he did tuck the brat protectively under his arm, and to his surprise the kid didn't try to get away. "No way am I leaving you, Kagome!"

Manten blasted energy at them again, but Kagome was able to deflect it. "Then at least get out of the line of fire!" Kagome yelled at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha could see the sense of that, and took off running back towards the trees where he'd have at least a little cover. _Dang it, I should have brought the bow and arrows Kaede offered me._ He'd only had a few lessons with it so he wasn't very good yet which was why he hadn't bothered to bring it, preferring the staff Sensei had given him. But a bow would have been really useful in this fight; now instead of contributing he was relegated to just staying out of the way.

_I hate feeling useless!_

Inuyasha ducked behind a tree and then looked back to see how Kagome was doing. He was slightly surprised to see that she had the advantage, but then realized that he shouldn't be. Manten did have powerful energy blasts, but he didn't have a weapon with him, and his energy blasts weren't any good for blocking the Tetsusaiga. Kagome pressed her advantage, attacking quickly and fiercely. It wasn't long before Manten was unable to dodge and Kagome landed a killing blow. Still holding the kid to make sure he didn't run off with their jewel shards, Inuyasha approached Kagome as the Tetsusaiga shrank down to its usual, unassuming form.

Inuyasha couldn't help but cringe just a little at the sight of Manten's dead body. He didn't consider himself squeamish by any means, but he still wasn't used to seeing dead bodies. He was immediately distracted though when the kid in his arms whimpered, his green eyes glued to the fox fur around Manten's waist.

"That's your father's fur?" Kagome asked softly.

The fox demon looked up at her and blinked back tears. "Yeah…The Thunder Brothers killed him…"

Kagome nodded as though she'd expected that answer. She probably had; Inuyasha had been expecting it too. "What's your name?" she asked.

"Shippo," the kid replied.

Kagome knelt down and untied the pelt from Manten's waist. "Well then, Shippo, what do you say we lay your father to rest properly?"

Shippo looked up at her with wide eyes. "You'll help me do that?"

Kagome smiled at him. "Yes, we will."

"Don't forget to get his jewel shards," Inuyasha said, nodding towards Manten's corpse. Kagome leaned back down and dug the fragments out of Manten's forehead, which was just a little gross, but Inuyasha wasn't about to say anything about that. She handed them over to Inuyasha who tucked them in his pocket. Inuyasha then scowled down at Shippo. "You'll need to return the shards you took from us as well."

Shippo hesitated just a moment, but then he reached into his vest and pulled out all of the jewel shards. "Here you go."

Inuyasha took them and stuck them in his pocket as well. _I need to get something to keep all the pieces in, like a baggie or something._ He made a mental note to look for something like that when he got home.

Kagome led the way away from Manten, and Inuyasha followed, still holding Shippo. He knew he didn't really need to keep holding him since Inuyasha had the jewel shards back, but Shippo wasn't trying to get down and it wasn't like the kid was heavy. Inuyasha figured it might be okay to carry him, just this once.

"Is there a special place you'd like to bury him?" Kagome asked.

Shippo shook his head. "No, no special place. But we might need to hurry," he added. "Manten has an older brother, Hiten, and once he finds out that Manten is dead he's sure to come after us."

"Does this older brother have shards as well?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah," Shippo said, "and he's more powerful than Manten. He'd be a lot harder to defeat."

"Well, if he has jewel shards we'll have to try," Kagome said.

"You're collecting jewel shards?" Shippo asked. "How come?"

Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha, who winced. "Erm, it's sort of my job to protect the jewel from anyone who'd misuse it," Inuyasha said. "But, um, I kind of broke it. So now I have to find all the jewel shards and Kagome is helping me."

Shippo tilted his head back so he could look up at Inuyasha with wide eyes. "Why would you do something stupid like that?"

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched as he glared down at him. "It was an accident, okay! I thought it was more durable! Keep talking like that and I'll drop you, you little brat!"

"Shippo," Kagome said before they could keep arguing, "is this a good spot?"

Inuyasha and Shippo looked around. They were in a secluded little field that was dotted with wildflowers. It was a pretty place, with almost a park like feel to it.

"Yeah," Shippo said, squirming out of Inuyasha's grip.

"How are we going to dig a grave?" Inuyasha asked. "We don't have any shovels."

"I can take care of that," Shippo said. He pulled out one of his leaves and slapped it on a stick he found on the ground. There was a puff of smoke and when it cleared the stick had transformed into a wooden shovel.

Inuyasha reached for it, but Kagome shoved the fur she'd been carrying into his arms instead. "Hold this and I'll dig the grave," she said. "Your shoulder is still hurt, so you shouldn't be doing work like this."

Inuyasha grumbled a bit, but he didn't put up a fight because he knew she was right. So he sat down to wait, trying not to think too hard about the fur in his lap. Shippo sat down beside him, his eyes glued to his father's pelt.

Suddenly, Myoga appeared on Shippo's shoulder. "Hello, young one," he said. "I'm afraid we haven't been introduced yet. I'm Myoga, Kagome's retainer."

"Oh, hello," Shippo said. "I'm Shippo."

Inuyasha glared down at the flea demon. "Myoga, where have you been?"

Myoga looked offended. "Why, Inuyasha, I don't appreciate that tone. I've been here the whole time."

"Sure you have," Inuyasha scoffed. "You little coward, you disappear at the first sign of a fight!"

"I am not a coward!" Myoga protested.

But Inuyasha quit paying attention to Myoga's protests when he noticed how Shippo had gone back to staring at his father's fur. Inuyasha could see the look of despair in Shippo's eyes, and his heart went out to him. Inuyasha's own father had died in a car accident when Inuyasha was seven and just before Souta had been born. Even though he'd been young, Inuyasha could still remember in perfect detail everything that had happened on the day he'd found out his father was dead, and he knew how much losing a parent hurt. No young child should have to deal with that pain.

"Hey," Inuyasha said suddenly, gaining Shippo's attention. "Where's your mother?"

Shippo shrugged. "She died years ago. It was just me and Father."

So Shippo was an orphan. Inuyasha knew how awful losing one parent was; he could imagine the misery of losing both parents. Comforting people wasn't really Inuyasha's area of expertise, but he felt like he should say something at least. "My father died in an accident when I was young," Inuyasha said. He glanced over at Kagome who was still busy digging the grave. "Kagome's lost both of her parents as well." He looked back down at Shippo. "I just mean, well, we understand how it feels."

Tears welled up in Shippo's eyes and slowly trickled down his face. Then all at once it was as if Shippo couldn't contain himself anymore, and burying his face in his face in his father's fur, he sobbed. Inuyasha patted Shippo's back in a comforting gesture; he might not like to deal with tears, but having a scaredy-cat little brother like Souta meant Inuyasha had had to deal with them more than once.

A few minutes later Shippo's tears had calmed some, and Kagome jumped out of the hole she had dug. Kagome walked over to them and knelt down by them. She sent Shippo a sympathetic and understanding look and said, "It's ready, Shippo."

Shippo sat up and scrubbed at his eyes. "Okay. Let's finish this."

They all stood and Inuyasha carefully lowered the pelt into the grave. There was a moment of silence, and then Shippo said, "I'm going to look for a marker for his grave while you fill it in."

"Do you want any company?" Kagome asked.

Shippo shook his head. "No. I'll do this much on my own."

They nodded in agreement and Shippo wandered off. Once he was out of sight Kagome began filling in the grave. "Inuyasha," she said as she worked, "I think we should bring him with us. He's all alone, and we can't just leave him like this."

Inuyasha thought of Souta, and how he would feel if his little brother had been left in a situation like Shippo was in. "Yeah," he said. "I think you're right."

"Are you sure that is wise?" Myoga spoke up from Inuyasha's shoulder. "Chasing after the jewel shards mean we will run into many dangerous situations, and it might be better if Shippo isn't involved in them."

Kagome glared at him, her golden eyes flashing with anger. "That's preferable to being left alone!"

Inuyasha realized that Kagome could probably identify with Shippo's situation even more than he could. Kagome had also been orphaned at a young age, left with no one to care for her, unless one counted Sesshomaru which Inuyasha vehemently _didn't_. The situation Shippo was in probably hit very close to home for her.

Perhaps realizing the same thing Inuyasha did, Myoga dipped his head in apology. "Forgive me; you are correct. We will bring him along."

Kagome finished filling in the grave, and Shippo then reappeared, rolling a stone that was nearly as large as he was. Shippo settled it at the head of his father's grave and then stepped back. Staring at the grave, Inuyasha could just hear Shippo whisper, "I'll be strong for you, Father. Just like you wanted me to be."

_And Kagome and I will help him_, Inuyasha vowed silently. _We'll take care of him for you._

Was it Inuyasha's imagination, or did he actually see the ghostly image of a fox for the briefest second? Either way he could feel goose bumps forming on his skin, and he knew with a sudden, bone deep certainty that Shippo's father was going to hold him to that promise.

Lightning tore through the sky back in the direction they'd left Manten's body, one bolt after another for nearly a full minute.

"It looks like Hiten found his brother's body," Myoga said. "He'll be tracking us down now."

Kagome started back in that direction, calling over her shoulder, "Inuyasha, you stay here with Shippo. I'll go handle Hiten."

"I'm not letting you fight him by yourself," Inuyasha said.

Kagome turned and looked at him sternly. "Inuyasha, your shoulder is hurt. You'll only get in the way if you come with me."

Inuyasha's whole body tensed with indignation at her words, but the simple act of tensing up sent a twinge of pain through his shoulder, proving her words correct. Once again Inuyasha wished he'd brought the bow with him, but he honestly wasn't sure if he'd be able to draw it properly with his shoulder hurt like this.

"Please, Inuyasha," Kagome said before he could argue.

Inuyasha nodded stiffly. "Fine. We'll wait here."

Kagome smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Then she dashed off as Inuyasha muttered, "Who's worried?" But despite his words he couldn't bring himself to sit as he waited for Kagome to return.

* * *

Kagome hoped she hadn't offended Inuyasha by her blunt speech, but there wasn't time for her to be delicate in this situation. She set the worry aside; she needed to be able to focus on the fight that was about to happen. Once she had been sure Inuyasha and Shippo wouldn't be caught in the crossfire Manten had been easy enough to deal with; Kagome was certain that the fight with Hiten would not be so simple.

She hadn't quite made it all the way back to Manten's body when a powerful demonic aura washed over her. In the sky a demon appeared that she assumed was Hiten. The demon's face, which was probably normally quite handsome, was twisted with rage as he floated in the sky thanks to the assistance of two small wheels floating by his feet that emitted jets of flame. He pointed at her with his pike. "You! Are you the one who slew my brother and stole his jewel shards?"

Kagome drew the Tetsusaiga in preparation for the attack she knew was coming. "I am."

"How dare you?" Hiten cried.

Kagome scoffed. "With as many as you and your brother have murdered, I don't think you have any room to talk."

Hiten threw his pike at her. She dodged the pike, but she wasn't expecting the explosion of lightning that followed when it touched the ground. The blast hit her hard, knocking her back. She landed on the ground with enough force to cause her to lose her grip on the Tetsusaiga and the sword flew from her hand. Kagome quickly got back to her feet as the pike flew back to Hitan's hand. As soon as it was in his hand Hiten flew down to attack her, leaving Kagome no time to even spot where the Tetsusaiga had gone, much less to grab it. Acting on desperate instinct alone, Kagome drew her sheath and used it to block the pike. To her surprise, it actually worked to hold the weapon off.

"Just how long do you think that will stop me, half breed?" Hiten snarled.

Kagome's temper flared at the derogatory tone of voice he used, but Kagome wondered the same thing as she strained to hold off the deadly pike with her sheath. Positioned as he was floating above her, Kagome couldn't hope to throw him off. The best she could do was keep this stalemate going, and that wouldn't last forever.

Unexpectedly, Kagome felt the sheath pulse. A moment later the Tetsusaiga flew back into the sheath. Taking a risk, Kagome shifted her grip and drew the sword, slashing at Hiten. Unfortunately she didn't move quite quickly enough, and his pike sliced across her chest before he was forced to dodge her swing. Kagome hissed with pain but didn't focus on her wound; while painful it was fairly shallow, so she could afford to ignore it.

_As long as he can fly, I'm at a disadvantage,_ Kagome thought. _I need to destroy those wheels he uses to fly if I want to have any hope of defeating him._

A target in mind, Kagome didn't wait for Hiten to attack again but jumped at him. He flew backwards and raised his pike as though expecting her to swing for his head. It caught him off guard then when Kagome swung at his feet. One of the wheels shattered upon contact with the Tetsusaiga, but Hiten moved out of the way before she could relieve him of a foot as well. One wheel alone wasn't enough to support him, so he fell to the ground. His landing was rough and his back was to Kagome, so she took advantage of his moment of distraction to stab him through the heart.

Hiten's body jerked with pain, and his red eyes widened with disbelief. "No," he rasped. "I can't have lost; not to this half breed."

His eyes glazed over and his body slumped down dead. Kagome grimly withdrew her sword from his back and it shrank back down to its more inconspicuous size so she could sheath it. Kagome gathered the jewel shards from his forehead and started back to where Inuyasha, Myoga, and Shippo were waiting for her.

"You had so much power," she said to herself, thinking of Hiten and Manten, "but all you could do with it was hurt people. Such a waste."

When she got back to the field where she had left the three of them, she found Inuyasha pacing back and forth while Shippo sat beside his father's grave watching him. Inuyasha whirled around to face her when he realized she was there and looked alarmed when he saw the blood on her clothes.

"You're hurt!" he said.

"It's nothing," Kagome said. It still hurt, but the bleeding had already stopped. "Really; I heal differently than humans do. By morning it'll be completely gone."

Inuyasha didn't look convinced. "Really?"

"It's true," Shippo piped up. "Demons and half demons heal a lot faster than humans."

Inuyasha didn't argue anymore, but he didn't really look happy either. Kagome felt bad for him; he was probably upset that he hadn't been able to help at all during her fights with Manten and Hiten, but given the fact that he was injured he would have been more of a hindrance than a help this time.

"Here, Inuyasha," she said, handing over the jewel shards she had taken from Hiten.

Inuyasha took them without comment and stuck them in his pocket.

"Well," Kagome said, trying to lighten the mood, "it looks like we have a few more hours of daylight. I think we should travel a little longer before we make camp tonight."

Kagome noticed how Shippo suddenly looked uncertain. Inuyasha must have seen it too, because before Kagome could invite Shippo to go along with them, he snatched him up by the back of his shirt using his good arm and started unceremoniously carrying him off. "Well, come on," Inuyasha said as he did so. "We aren't going to wait around on you, brat."

Kagome smiled when she saw the happiness on Shippo's face as he realized he was going to come with them. "I won't slow you down, I promise," he said fervently.

"Keh, you'd better not, or we'll leave you behind," Inuyasha said, but his gruff tone was belied by the way he shifted his hold so that Shippo was comfortably settled in the crook of his arm.

Kagome couldn't help but chuckle a little at the sight. Inuyasha glared at her as if daring her to comment. Not wanting his pride to force him into putting Shippo down, Kagome wisely chose not to say anything.


	7. Chapter 7

Terror of the Ancient Noh Mask

Part 1

The two days it took to travel back to Kaede's village didn't feel that long despite the constant walking. This was, in large part, due to the presence of Shippo, who had proved to be vastly entertaining, if sometimes a little annoying. For whatever reason he seemed incredibly taken with Inuyasha, choosing to frequently catch a ride on Inuyasha's uninjured shoulder, though he soon warmed up to Kagome as well. In truth, Inuyasha didn't mind the way Shippo stuck so close to him, as it wasn't unlike what he dealt with at home with Souta. When Shippo found out that Myoga was teaching Inuyasha about demons, he eagerly joined in the discussions sharing what he knew with Inuyasha as well.

It wasn't until they'd made it to the outskirts of the village that it occurred to Inuyasha that the villagers might not appreciate them bringing a fox demon into their home. They tolerated Kagome's presence, meaning they mostly ignored her and she stayed out of their way, but Shippo wasn't even half human.

_Just let someone say something,_ Inuyasha growled to himself. _I dare them_.

They did receive some surprised and suspicious glances from people when they noticed Shippo perched on Inuyasha's shoulders, but no one said anything. Whether that was because of the respect they gave Inuyasha as Kikyo's reincarnation, or from fear of Kagome, Inuyasha didn't know and he didn't really care to find out.

When they made it to Kaede's hut, the old priestess was waiting to greet them. She raised an eyebrow at the sight of Shippo, but all she said was, "I see you have made a new friend."

"Yeah," Inuyasha said. "This is Shippo; he's staying with us now. Shippo, this is Kaede."

Shippo nodded his head politely. "It's nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Kaede said. "Come on in. Supper is just about ready, and you must tell me how your trip went."

They all went inside and settled down. As Kaede served them all dinner, Inuyasha told her of everything that had happened, with occasional interjections by Kagome, Myoga, and Shippo. When Kaede found out Inuyasha had been hurt, she insisted on seeing the injury for herself. After examining it she said, "Well, it seems to be healing nicely. The healer who tended it knew what she was doing. In a few days I expect it will be back to normal."

"That's good to hear," Inuyasha said.

"So, what are your plans now?" Kaede asked.

"I think I'm going to head back home tonight," Inuyasha said. "I've been gone a week so I'm sure Mom is starting to worry, not to mention all the school I've missed and need to catch up on. I'll probably stay there a couple days and let my shoulder finish healing before I come back."

Kaede nodded. "That is probably wise."

"Is your village near here?" Shippo asked curiously.

"Sort of," Inuyasha replied. "I actually live about five hundred years in the future. There's a magic well in the woods nearby that lets me travel between my time and this time."

Shippo looked awed for a moment and then suspicious. "You're kidding. Nothing like that could actually exist."

Inuyasha grinned at him. "Want to bet?" He stood and then bowed a little in Kaede's direction. "Thank you for the food. I'll see you in a few days."

He went outside and headed off in the direction of the Bone Eater's Well, followed closely by Kagome and Shippo. "Inuyasha," Kagome said, "I know we had talked about me going to your time to meet your sensei, but maybe we should postpone that trip."

Inuyasha realized what she wasn't saying; that she didn't want to leave Shippo all alone during his first time at the village. "Yeah, okay," Inuyasha agreed casually. He figured it was probably best if Shippo didn't realize that Kagome was staying solely for his benefit.

"Can I travel to your time?" Shippo asked eagerly.

"I thought you didn't believe it worked," Kagome teased.

"Oh, well," sputtered Shippo, "I don't! But, well, if it does, can I come?"

"I'm not sure if you can," Inuyasha said. "I mean, it works for me, and it works for Kagome, but if it worked for just everyone, wouldn't more people have time travelled already?"

"How many people actually jump down dry wells?" Kagome pointed out.

"True," Inuyasha said. "And I guess there isn't any reason for it to work for just the two of us and no one else. If it works for you though, Shippo, I don't see why you couldn't visit my time."

"I would enjoy visiting as well," Myoga said. "It would be interesting to see what the world is like in five hundred years."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Sure, why not? Everyone can come and we'll just throw a party."

By this time they had made it to the well. Shippo hopped onto the edge and peered down. "It looks like a normal dry well to me," he said doubtfully.

"Looks can be deceiving I guess," Kagome said.

Inuyasha grinned at Shippo. "Well, let's see if it works for you. Follow me!" Inuyasha hopped down the well, and the lights rose to greet him, slowing his descent. Moments later his body settled on the bottom of the well. Inuyasha looked around but didn't see Shippo. "Huh, I guess he couldn't get through."

Using the rope that Souta and Gramps had left hanging for him the first time he'd climbed out of the well, Inuyasha made his way to the top. The strain on his shoulder was painful, but not unbearable. Once he reached the top, he decided to jump back down so he could check that Shippo was still actually in the past where he was supposed to be.

A few moments later he was back and he could hear Shippo complaining to Kagome at the top of the well. "I don't get it! Inuyasha disappeared, but why didn't I?"

"Hey!" Inuyasha called, and the two poked their heads over the edge of the well. "What happened?"

"He couldn't get through," Kagome said. "He just landed on the bottom while you vanished."

Inuyasha frowned. "So only the two of us can use the well. I wonder why."

"It is confusing," Kagome agreed. "I would say it had something to do with the jewel, but that wouldn't explain why I was able to go through it before when I didn't have any jewel shards on me."

"Perhaps," Myoga mused from Kagome's shoulder, "the well chooses who it allows through?"

Inuyasha's eyes widened. "Chooses? You mean this thing is alive?"

"Well, not alive per se," Myoga said. "But it is a very old well. It is possible it has developed some level of sentience over time."

A sentient well that controlled time and could pick and choose who it sent back and forth through it; that sounded like some sort of badly written sci-fi story to Inuyasha, and he wasn't sure that he cared for it.

"Of course this is only a guess," Myoga added. "I could be completely wrong."

Putting the matter out of his mind for now, Inuyasha said, "Well, I guess I'd better get back for real this time." Of course to get back he needed to jump down the well again, which meant he needed to climb to the top once more, a prospect that Inuyasha didn't relish. The pain from climbing up wouldn't be unbearable, but he didn't think he should really be putting this much strain on his shoulder.

"Would you like me to carry you up since your shoulder is still hurt?" Kagome asked.

"I can do it myself!" Inuyasha said, his words coming out a bit sharper than he'd meant them to.

Kagome looked offended at his tone. "Well, fine then!" she snapped, and her face disappeared from the patch of sky he could see.

Gritting his teeth Inuyasha used the vines to help himself climb up. He could deal with the pain if it meant Kagome wasn't going to carry him. When he reached the top he was too irritated to bother saying goodbye, so he just hopped down the well. When he landed in his own time he groaned as he realized he was going to have to climb the rope again.

"We should get a rope ladder for this thing," Inuyasha grumbled. "At least then I wouldn't be straining my arms so much." Of course if he hadn't been hurt this wouldn't really be an issue in the first place. Deciding it was better to get the ordeal over with than sit at the bottom of the well, Inuyasha climbed out. His shoulder hurt worse this time than it had the previous two times. After he climbed out of the well he took a moment to check and make sure he hadn't reopened his wound, and was relieved to find he hadn't. Wouldn't that freak his family out, for him to come home bleeding?

Inuyasha made his way to the house, and as soon as he was past the front door called out, "I'm home!"

There was some scrambling from within the house and then his family members were there to greet him. "Inuyasha, you're back!" Souta cried happily as he dove forward to wrap his arms around Inuyasha's waist. Inuyasha grunted a little at the impact, but didn't resist the hug.

"I'm glad you're home," his mother said with a smile. "I was beginning to worry a little."

"I'm alright," Inuyasha said breezily.

"Did you collect more of the jewel shards?" Gramps asked.

"Sure did," Inuyasha said, patting his pocket where they were stored.

"Did you have cool adventures getting them?" Souta asked eagerly. "Will you tell me about them?"

"Sure thing," Inuyasha said, mentally cursing himself for not having expected this request. He hadn't really planned to tell them about his adventures as he was sure the dangers he'd faced would only make them worry more when he was gone and he didn't want that. But he should have realized that Souta would want details of his trip; if he had he might have been able to think up edited versions of the events beforehand, but as it was he had to wing it.

As a result of this, once they were settled into the living room so Inuyasha could tell them his stories, there did end up being some fairly large holes where Inuyasha tried to leave out the worst of the details. Souta didn't notice, but Inuyasha knew that Gramps and his mom were too smart not to, and they likely realized that acquiring the shards that he now had had been much more dangerous than he was letting on. Of course neither of them said anything as they wouldn't want to upset Souta with such talk any more than Inuyasha did.

"By the way," Inuyasha said his stories drew to a close, "do we have a little jar with a lid or a bag or something that I can use to store the jewel shards in? I think that might be better than just keeping them loose in my pocket."

"Of course," his mom said, hopping up out of the chair she'd been settled in. "I think I have just the thing, if you'll give me a moment."

"It sounds like you have such cool adventures over there," Souta said wistfully. "I wish I could go there."

Inuyasha thought of the demons he had faced there, like Mistress Centipede, Yura, and the toad demon that had possessed the Lord, and felt a chill. He knew without a doubt that the past was the last place he wanted Souta to go. The well hadn't worked for Shippo, and Inuyasha sincerely hoped it never worked for Souta either.

"Please," Inuyasha scoffed while ruffling Souta's hair and trying to sound lighthearted. "You wouldn't last five minutes there before you were crying to come home."

Souta shoved his hand away and glared defiantly. "I wouldn't cry!"

Inuyasha's reply was cut off by Mrs. Higurashi's return. "Here you go, Inuyasha," she said, handing him a small glass jar with a lid on it.

"Thanks, Mom, this is perfect," Inuyasha said, pulling the fragments of the jewel he had out of his pocket and moving them to the jar. As he did so he yawned widely, the days of travel catching up to him finally.

"Oh, you must be so tired after all you've done," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Why don't you go take a bath and head to bed dear? Will you be going to school tomorrow?"

Inuyasha grimaced at the idea of school. He'd missed a week of it and wasn't looking forward to the makeup work he would no doubt need to start tackling. He supposed he could always take it with him when he went back for more jewel hunting, but he couldn't see how he could realistically expect to get any of it done. "I guess I'd better go," he said. "I'll be far enough behind as it is. I'll go to Sensei's after school as well," he added. At least this time Sensei wouldn't be mad at him since Inuyasha had been able to warn him that he was going to be gone for a while. It would also be nice to see his friends, well, friend, after all this time, even if Inuyasha wasn't willing to admit that fact out loud.

Following his mom's orders, Inuyasha soaked in a bath for a while before going to bed. The hot water was a wonderful relief to his shoulder. Inuyasha hadn't mentioned his injury when he told his stories because it was supposed to be better in a few days, and the knowledge would only serve to worry them. Unfortunately, he realized that he would have to tell Sensei about it tomorrow, given that his normal practice sessions would probably be too intense for it, and Inuyasha didn't want to slow down the healing process at all if he could help it.

Finally Inuyasha got out and as he dried off he caught sight of himself and frowned. His hair was starting to grow past his shoulders just a bit, meaning he would have to get it trimmed. "Stupid school dress code," Inuyasha muttered. He didn't see why they had such a double standard about hair length; after all, if the girls were allowed to cut their hair as short as they wanted, why wasn't he allowed to have long hair? Inuyasha liked long hair.

Inuyasha went to his room and flopped down on his bed with a happy sigh. He'd never say it out loud because he didn't want to seem like a wimp, but he'd missed his mattress this past week.

* * *

It almost felt weird to be walking up to the school after his week in the Feudal Era. Somehow studying things like history, algebra, and literature just didn't seem quite as important after the things he'd seen and dealt with in the past.

_Guess I won't be hunting shards forever, though, so an education is still important._

Although he wasn't convinced he would ever need to use algebra in his day to day life, despite his teacher's assurances that it would come in handy one day.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha turned to greet his best friend with a grin. "Hey, Hojo!"

The friendship between Inuyasha and Hojo was looked at as a strange thing by many, because the two were so different from each other. Hojo was always nice and got along well with people, he was a straight A student, and nearly every girl in school had a crush on him. Inuyasha was gruff on his best days, downright mean on his worst, a decent student but hardly brilliant, and most of the girls in school found him intimidating or just flat out didn't like him. Inuyasha and Hojo probably never even would have spoken to each other if Inuyasha hadn't seen bullies picking on him back when they'd been in elementary school. Inuyasha had come to Hojo's defense and they'd been inseparable since, and despite their differences, or perhaps because of them, the friendship worked for them.

Hojo grinned back. "I'm glad to see you're here Inuyasha. You've missed over a week of school; that's going to be hard to catch up on."

Inuyasha opened his mouth to protest, he'd only been gone a week, but then he closed it when he realized that his math had been bad. He'd missed two days of school the first time he'd been pulled through the well, and then it had been the weekend, so he'd come home Sunday night, and then he'd gone back Monday morning for his week long trip.

_Crap, I'm father behind than I thought._

Inuyasha rubbed the back of his head. "Think I can get copies of your notes after school?"

"Sure, under one condition," Hojo replied, surprising Inuyasha a bit. Hojo didn't normally put conditions on his favors. "Explain how you threw out your back, developed bunions, gout, and some unpronounceable infectious disease that I'm pretty sure doesn't actually exist. And of course how you recovered from all this in about a week and a half." He threw Inuyasha a look. "Do you even know what gout is?"

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. "Who told you all that?"

"Your grandfather," Hojo said.

Inuyasha groaned. "Great. Just great. Couldn't he have said I had the flu or something?" He groaned again as a terrible thought occurred to him. "If that's what he told you, what did he tell the school?"

"Probably the same thing," Hojo said, displaying absolutely no sympathy. "So, what was really going on? Why weren't you coming to school, and why wasn't I even allowed to visit you?"

Inuyasha grimaced. How could he tell Hojo the truth without seeming crazy? Sure, he'd managed to convince Sensei, but the man had an uncanny ability to tell whether or not a person was lying. There was no way Hojo would believe what was really going on, and Gramps' ridiculous stories had ruined any easy lie Inuyasha might have come up with about being sick.

The warning bell rang, saving Inuyasha from having to reply. "I'll tell you later," he said, and they had to rush to class.

Despite the fact that he was far behind and really needed to pay attention so he could start catching up, Inuyasha couldn't concentrate in class. He was too busy trying to think up a believable excuse that he could give Hojo. He considered telling Hojo that Gramps was a pathological liar, but had to discard that idea. They'd been friends for so many years now that Hojo knew Inuyasha's family well enough to know that would be a lie also. Unfortunately, Inuyasha couldn't come up with any excuse that Gramps wouldn't have been willing to tell Hojo if it had actually been true. So it was that when lunch time rolled around, Inuyasha had no story prepared to tell him.

Hojo scooted his desk over against Inuyasha's when it was time for lunch, just as he did every day. "Okay, talk," Hojo said. "What's going on?"

Inuyasha sighed. As he hadn't been able to come up with a convincing lie he had no choice but to tell the truth. He just hoped Hojo wouldn't think he was completely crazy.

"Inuyasha Higurashi."

Inuyasha and Hojo both started at the sound of Inuyasha's name. He looked over at the doorway to find his homeroom teacher Ms. Hanajima Sato standing there. "Come with me, Inuyasha," Ms. Sato said.

Dread pooled in Inuyasha's stomach. It didn't take a genius to figure out where this was going. "Wish me luck," he muttered to Hojo, and then he got up and followed Ms. Sato out into the hall. Ms. Sato wasn't a mean teacher, but she was strict, and if Gramps had given her the same sort of excuses that he'd given Hojo, well, Inuyasha could just imagine the interrogation he was in for.

She led him to one of the teacher offices, which was basically a large room with about ten desks shoved inside. Ms. Sato sat at her desk, the very picture of a stern teacher, with her brown hair pulled back into a severe bun, dark, practical clothes, and glasses perched on the edge of her nose. She could have been pretty if she hadn't been quite so serious. She motioned for Inuyasha to take a seat in a spare chair. "I'm sure you know what this is about," Ms. Sato said, adjusting her glasses over her hazel eyes. "You've missed over a week of school, Inuyasha. I called your house and spoke with your grandfather, who insisted you were suffering from ailments that are very unusual for someone your age." She arched one thin eyebrow at him. "How are your bunions?

Inuyasha cringed, struggling to figure out a way to reply. With a flash of inspiration, he realized that Ms. Sato didn't know his family like Hojo did, so the lies that wouldn't work with him might work on her. "I'm sorry you had to deal with him," Inuyasha said. "Our family doesn't like to talk about it, but I'm afraid Gramps is actually a pathological liar."

Both eyebrows went up. "Really?" she asked, disbelief coloring her voice.

Inuyasha nodded, struggling to keep a straight face and hold eye contact. "Yes ma'am. If you need to call my house ever, you should probably ask to speak to my mother."

"I'll keep that in mind," Ms. Sato said. "Now then, why were you out?"

"I had the flu," Inuyasha said. Best to keep his excuse simple.

"I see," she said slowly. "Well, I'm sure you'll understand that I need a doctor's note."

"You do?" Inuyasha asked with some alarm.

"I do," Ms. Sato said. "I understand if you don't have it right now, but I'm sure it won't be hard for you to get. After all, having been so sick with the flu, you would have had to go to the doctor. Unless something else happened this week?" she asked pointedly.

Inuyasha realized then that he was sunk. She obviously didn't believe him, and while he might consider telling Hojo the truth, there was no way he was telling Ms. Sato. There was a chance Hojo might actually believe him by virtue of their years of friendship. Ms. Sato was sure to either call him a liar or recommend psychiatric help. He had to get his hands on a doctor's note, but how? After all, he hadn't actually been to the doctor. But he didn't have any way to back out of his story now.

"No, nothing else happened," Inuyasha said. "I'll get the note for you."

She stared at him for a moment, causing him to shift uncomfortably in his seat. Finally she nodded. "Very well. Go on back to class before lunch is over."

"Yes, ma'am," Inuyasha said, relieved to be escaping scrutiny for now. He quickly walked back to the classroom.

"How'd it go?" Hojo asked.

"I told her I had the flu and she wants a doctor's note," Inuyasha said.

"How did you explain Gramps' stories?" Hojo asked.

"Um," Inuyasha said. Now that he thought about it he kind of felt bad for saying Gramps was a liar, because he really wasn't, as evidenced by his terrible attempts at covering for Inuyasha. _It's his own fault for coming up with such dumb cover stories,_ he told himself. "I might have said he's a pathological liar."

"Inuyasha!" Hojo said looking upset.

"Well what was I supposed to say?" Inuyasha snapped.

"How about the truth?" Hojo suggested sharply.

Inuyasha sighed. "Look, I promise I'll tell you everything. Then you'll understand why I couldn't tell Ms. Sato. But it's a long story and lunch is almost over, so let me eat. I'll tell you after school."

"Fine," Hojo said leaning back in his desk chair. "I'm going to hold you to that promise."

"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha grumbled, digging out his lunch box.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly. When the day ended Inuyasha collected the piles of makeup work he had to do and then he and Hojo left the school and started out towards Sensei's dojo. Hojo didn't take any classes there, but Inuyasha trained with Sensei every day after school.

As they walked Inuyasha told Hojo everything, about getting dragged down the well, finding Kagome, what had happened with the Shikon Jewel. He explained how it was his responsibility to go back to the Feudal Era and hunt down the shards so that the demons there couldn't use them for evil.

He finished when they were almost at Sensei's. Nervously, he glanced over at Hojo. Inuyasha knew that the story sounded insane, and if their positions had been reversed he wasn't sure if he would have believed Hojo.

"You're really serious about all this?" Hojo asked.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said.

"Well," Hojo said slowly, "I guess that does explain why you couldn't tell Ms. Sato the truth. She probably wouldn't have believed you."

"You believe me?" Inuyasha asked.

"No offense, Inuyasha, but you aren't a very creative liar," Hojo said. "I don't really think you could have come up with all those details if it hadn't actually happened."

Inuyasha frowned, unsure whether or not to take offense at that particular sentiment.

"I guess this means you're going to absent quite a bit from school," Hojo said.

Inuyasha shrugged. "I don't have much of a choice. I'm the only one who can sense the jewel shards, and it's my fault it got broken in the first place."

"You would think magical artifacts would be more durable," Hojo mused.

"See! That's what I said!" Inuyasha replied. By this time they had reached the gate to Sensei's property. Before Inuyasha could say goodbye to Hojo and make his way inside, the gate swung open to show Sensei, his face grim.

"Inuyasha, your mother just called," Sensei told him. "She said there was an accident back at the Shrine and your grandfather was injured."

Sensei looked as though he might say more, but Inuyasha didn't bother to wait and hear it. He just dropped his backpack and took off at a dead sprint for home, deaf to Hojo's calls for him to wait. Adrenaline pumped through him as images of Gramps badly injured or maybe dying rushed through his head. _Please be okay, Gramps! Please!_

He was alarmed when he got close to home and saw the plume of smoke going in the sky, and even more so when he got close enough to see the fire trucks and police cars parked on the street in front of the steps that led up to Higurashi Shrine. Inuyasha jumped over the ropes the cops had used to cordon off the space in front of the steps and ignored yells for him to stop as he sprinted up the steps.

When he made it to the top of the steps he spotted his mother who looked surprised to see him. "Inuyasha, I didn't expect you to get here so quickly!"

Panting, Inuyasha asked, "Gramps, is he okay?"

"He'll be fine, dear," Mrs. Higurashi said. "One of the storage sheds caught on fire and he got trapped under a beam. He suffered some smoke inhalation, but with rest he should be okay. I'm heading to the hospital to sit with him, but I need you to stay here and wait for Souta so he doesn't worry."

"Right," Inuyasha said. "When Souta gets here do you want us to meet you at the hospital?"

"If you want, that'll be fine," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Now I've got to go."

Only moments after she disappeared down the steps, Hojo came up them holding Inuyasha's backpack. "Thanks," Inuyasha said, taking it from him.

"No problem," Hojo said. "Is Gramps okay?"

"Yeah, Mom says he'll be fine, but they did have to take him to the hospital," Inuyasha said.

"Inuyasha, Inuyasha!" Souta yelled, running up the steps, panicked tears in his eyes. Inuyasha had to catch him by the shoulders to keep Souta from running into him. "What happened?"

"It's okay," Inuyasha said, trying to keep his tone reassuring for his brother's sake. "There was a fire in one of the storage sheds. Gramps breathed in some smoke, that's all, but they took him to the hospital to make sure he's okay."

"Can we go to the hospital to check on him?" Souta asked.

"Of course," Inuyasha said, but his words were drowned out by sudden screams from the street. The three boys ran halfway down the steps so they could see what was going on, and were in time to see one of the fire trucks ram a cop car out of its way and take off down the street. Unexpectedly, Inuyasha felt the familiar tug of a jewel shard coming from within the truck. "No way," he said.

"Did someone just steal that fire truck?" Hojo asked.

"Whoever took it has a jewel shard!" Inuyasha said.

"But how?" Souta asked. "The only jewel shards here are the ones you have."

"Oh crap," Inuyasha said and rushed back to his house. He was relieved when he got to his room and found the jar of jewel shards exactly where he'd left it on his dresser. He snatched it up and shoved it in his pocket for safe keeping. "I guess I don't have the only jewel shards here." He didn't know how that was possible, but apparently it was.

_I have to stop whoever has that shard._

"Hojo, can you do me a favor and stay with Souta until I get back?" Inuyasha asked.

"Sure," Hojo said, frowning with worry. "But what are you doing?"

Inuyasha snatched up his staff. "Going for help!" he said as he left the house again and started jogging back towards Sensei's dojo.


	8. Chapter 8

Terror of the Ancient Noh Mask

Part 2

Inuyasha was starting to wish he hadn't sprinted so much on his way home; his legs were already starting to feel a bit tired which was why he wouldn't let himself go any faster than a jog now. He needed to save some energy for the inevitable fight that was coming.

He made it to the dojo and entered with perhaps a little more force than necessary, especially since Sensei was in the middle of teaching a class. Actually, it was the class that Inuyasha himself was normally a part of, and he got quite a few stares.

Sensei stalked over to him glowering. "Sorry, Sensei," Inuyasha said quickly. "But it's an emergency."

"Your mother said your grandfather would be fine," Sensei said frowning deeply.

"It isn't about Gramps," Inuyasha said, and then stopped. Because so far nothing had happened involving jewel shards that didn't also involve Inuyasha somehow; what if whoever had the jewel shard was the one who had started the fire that had hurt Gramps? Besides, if it wasn't related to the fire, what were the chances that someone with a jewel shard would just happen to steal a fire truck from right in front of Inuyasha's house? "Oh, hell," Inuyasha said.

"Language," Sensei said sharply. Given Usagi's frequent proximity to the dojo, Sensei had a very strict no swearing policy.

"Sorry," Inuyasha said automatically. "Look, something has a jewel shard and it's loose in the city! I don't know what it is, if it's human or not, but it stole a fire truck and I think it might be what caused Gramps' accident. I have to stop it and get the shard, but I figured if I went after it by myself you'd probably kill me."

"You thought right," Sensei said. "Just wait a minute."

He went back in his dojo and spoke for a moment to his assistant. Then he ducked in his back room only to reappear a moment later with a sword tied to his waist. He walked past Inuyasha and said, "Let's go. We've got a fire truck to hunt down."

* * *

Souta paced in back and forth by the front door, throwing frequent worried glances in the direction of the city. He knew he couldn't expect Inuyasha back immediately, but after all that had happened today he was scared and worried that his big brother was going to get hurt.

"It'll be okay, Souta," Hojo said. "Inuyasha went to get Sensei's help after all, and you know how strong he is."

"Yeah, I guess," Souta said. "But Inuyasha says it's always demons that go after the jewel shards. What if it's a really powerful one?"

"No one has seen a demon in hundreds of years," Hojo pointed out. "This one must be pretty weak to have stayed unnoticed for so long."

"Or really strong," Souta muttered pessimistically. If only there was someone equally strong _here_ to fight the thing. Souta froze. "Of course!"

"Souta, where are you going?" Hojo called when the boy took off running.

Souta ignored him and dashed to the well house. It was dark and creepy and scary, but Inuyasha needed the help of someone even stronger than Sensei, and Souta had to get her! Souta jumped down the well just as Hojo made it to the door of the well house.

"Souta!" Hojo called out in alarm.

Souta landed on the bottom of the well, not quite hard enough to wind himself. "No, no, no!" Souta said. "Why can't I get through?"

"Souta, are you alright?" Hojo called from the top of the well.

He looked up at Hojo, tears threatening to pour down his face. "I can't get through! But I have to! I have to find Kagome! Inuyasha needs her help!"

Suddenly the bottom of the well glowed, and out from the ground floated a teenage girl with long silver hair, dog ears, and golden eyes.

"Kagome!" Souta cried, so relieved that he threw his arms around her waist and hugged her.

"Oh, um, hi," she said, clearly not having expected to be hugged. "You're Inuyasha's little brother. Souta, right? I heard you calling for me. What's wrong?"

Souta let go of her and said, "A demon has a jewel shard here, and it's rampaging around the city in a fire truck! Inuyasha went after it, but I'm sure he'll need help!"

"We don't know for sure that it's a demon," Hojo called down again, making Kagome's head snap up. "Hello," Hojo said. "I'm Hojo, Inuyasha's friend."

"I'm Kagome," she said. She picked Souta up and jumped out of the well, landing lightly on the ground and setting Souta down. Souta stared at her, in awe of the way she'd done what should have been an impossible feet so easily. "The situation sounds serious, so I'd better find Inuyasha. You two stay here where it's safe."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hojo asked. "You don't know the city."

"I don't need to," Kagome said. "I know Inuyasha's scent, and I'll be able to follow it where ever he went." She smiled down at Souta and patted his head, which was treatment he'd normally protest but couldn't quite bring himself to right now. "Don't worry, I'll bring Inuyasha back safe."

She left, and Souta watched as she quickly disappeared. "Don't worry," Hojo said again, patting Souta's shoulder. "They'll all be fine."

"Of course they will," Souta said. "Kagome's amazing!"

* * *

Tracking the fire truck wasn't all that difficult. All Inuyasha and Sensei had to do was follow the trail of wrecked cars it left in its wake.

Wrecked, _empty_ cars. That little detail worried Inuyasha to no end. There weren't even any signs of blood from injuries that anyone riding in those cars should have sustained. It was like anyone in the path of the fire truck just…vanished.

They were definitely dealing with a demon, though what kind could do something like this Inuyasha didn't have a clue.

But even if following the fire truck was easy, catching up to it was something else entirely. The fire truck simply went faster than they did.

"How are we going to catch up with this thing?" Inuyasha grumbled as they rounded a corner, and then suddenly the fire truck was there, waiting for them. The windshield of the truck exploded and the creature inside sort of poured out onto the pavement. Its face was a wooden Noh mask with a jewel shard embedded in the forehead, and its body was a black, jello-like blob. Then the smell hit Inuyasha and he almost gagged; the creature reeked of rotting meat.

"A body," it said in a hollow voice that wasn't really male or female, "I need a living body!"

"I think I know why all those cars were empty," Sensei said grimly.

Inuyasha glanced between Sensei and the creepy Noh mask and put two and two together. He blanched. "All those people…" They were dead now, because of this thing.

Its painted eyes seemed to focus on him. "The jewel shards; give them to me!"

It launched itself at Inuyasha, moving much faster than he'd expected it to. Before Inuyasha could react, Sensei was in front of him, sword drawn and slashing through the air. The Noh mask reeled back, a deep horizontal scratch on its face.

"That blow should have cut it in half," Sensei growled.

"It has a jewel shard in its forehead," Inuyasha told him. "That makes it more durable; regular weapons probably won't work against it."

Sensei spared a moment to glare at him. "You couldn't have mentioned that earlier?"

"I didn't think about it earlier!" Inuyasha protested.

The Noh mask lunged at them again, and they were forced to dodge in different directions. The Noh mask landed in between them and then turned to face Inuyasha again. "I must have the jewel shards," it said. "I must have a living body!"

It dove at Inuyasha who lashed out defensively with his staff. The staff made contact with the mask and there was a flash of pink light. The mask recoiled, the left half of its face blackened. Inuyasha braced himself for another attack, hoping the surge of spiritual power hadn't been a onetime thing, but there was a sudden blur of red and silver, and a popping sound, and then the Noh mask was hitting the ground in pieces. The mask and its body disintegrated, leaving only a small shard of the Shikon Jewel on the ground, which Inuyasha immediately scooped up.

Inuyasha looked to the side and saw Kagome where she had landed lightly, the Tetsusaiga still in one hand. "What are you doing here?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're welcome."

Inuyasha flushed a little. "Yeah, thanks, but how did you even know to come?"

"Souta called me through the well," Kagome said. "He jumped down but couldn't get through, but I could still hear his voice."

Inuyasha was amazed that Souta had had the guts to try to jump down the well, but also really relieved that he hadn't actually been able to get through. Sensei strode forward then, his sword now sheathed, gaining both Inuyasha and Kagome's attention. He eyed Kagome with a look that Inuyasha recognized, and he could easily guess what was coming. "Sloppy," Sensei growled.

Kagome blinked at him. "Um, what?"

"Your form," Sensei said. "It's sloppy. Have you ever even used a sword before?"

Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha, looking completely lost. Inuyasha just grinned at her in encouragement. "Not really," she admitted.

"I thought as much," Sensei said. He grabbed her wrist so he could adjust her grip on the hilt of her sword. "Hold it like this for better control, and use both hands. Widen your stance; if you stand like that enemies will easily knock you over." He stepped back out of the way and nodded. "Much better. Try a swing now."

Kagome did as he said and Inuyasha could see the difference that just having a proper stance made in her swing. "Oh, wow," Kagome said. "Thank you for the help."

Sirens sounded in the distance, but were quickly drawing closer. "Perhaps we should leave before we have to answer uncomfortable questions," Sensei said.

"Yeah, that sounds good," Inuyasha said.

Sensei led the way through a nearby back alley, and soon they were several streets over. "By the way," Inuyasha said, realizing the two should be formally introduced, "Kagome, this is Sensei. Sensei, this is Kagome."

Sensei snorted. "I do have a name you know."

Inuyasha was so used to just calling the man Sensei, he normally didn't even think about using his actual name. "Oh, um –"

Sensei waved a hand in dismissal. "It's fine if she calls me Sensei."

"It's an honor to meet you," Kagome said politely.

Sensei nodded. "Likewise."

Kagome glanced over at Inuyasha. "Is your shoulder okay? You didn't strain your injury in the fight, did you?"

Sensei stopped walking and whirled on Inuyasha, his black eyes snapping with fury. "You're hurt and you _didn't tell me_?"

Inuyasha blanched. It had been a very long time since he'd seen Sensei this angry. "It isn't that bad!" he protested.

"Have you even been to a doctor yet?" he growled.

"Um, not in this era…"

Sensei took a menacing step towards him. "I was going to go this afternoon," Inuyasha quickly said, "but obviously I haven't had time!"

"We're going to a doctor, now," Sensei growled.

"But I need to get back to the house," Inuyasha protested. "I left Hojo there with Souta, but Souta's probably worried sick."

"I can go tell him you're okay," Kagome quickly volunteered.

"Do that," Sensei said without giving Inuyasha a chance to reply. Kagome sent Inuyasha an apologetic look and then jumped up onto the roof of the building they were beside and took off back towards the shrine. "Now," Sensei said, "are you going to walk or do I have to drag you?"

Knowing that Sensei was fully capable and willing to enact his threat, Inuyasha grumbled, "I'll walk."

They walked in silence and a few minutes later they arrived at a small clinic. The sign on the door said it was closed, which was hardly surprising since it was now sunset. Even so, Sensei didn't even hesitate before going up to the door and banging on it. "Haruki, open up!" he yelled.

A moment later the door opened to reveal a man in a white doctor's coat. He was a few inches shorter than Sensei but still taller than Inuyasha, with a lean build, short cut black hair, and wide brown eyes. "I keep office hours for a reason, you know," the doctor said.

"I know, but my idiot student has a shoulder injury he's left untreated for days," Sensei said, pointing at Inuyasha with his thumb. "Do me a favor and have a look?"

"I didn't leave it untreated!" Inuyasha protested. "I just haven't had a chance to see an actual doctor yet…"

Dr. Haruki sighed. "Fine, come on in." He led them through a small waiting room into his office. "Have a seat and take off your shirt," he ordered Inuyasha as he washed his hands and pulled on some rubber gloves.

Inuyasha sat on the examining table as ordered and unbuttoned the shirt of his school uniform revealing his bandaged shoulder. Dr. Haruki undid the bandage with the ease of long practice. "How did you sustain the injury?" he asked.

_I got stabbed by an evil toad demon's tongue._

Right, that would go over so well.

"I tripped," Inuyasha said.

Dr. Haruki paused in his examination to stare at him. "You tripped," he repeated, disbelief pouring off of his tone. Behind the doctor Inuyasha could see Sensei roll his eyes. "And landed on what, exactly, to cause this injury?"

"I landed on a sharp rock," Inuyasha said.

The doctor sighed. "Fine, don't tell me. It isn't like I'm trying to help you or anything."

"How is it?" Sensei asked.

"Not as bad as it could be," Dr. Haruki replied. "He's kept it from getting infected at least, which is good. As long as he doesn't strain his shoulder it should heal well, but he is going to have a small scar."

Well, a scar wasn't a big deal; given what Inuyasha was doing, he'd probably end up with a few more of them. The doctor applied some strong smelling medicine on the injury and bandaged it again.

"How much do I owe you?" Inuyasha asked as he buttoned his shirt again.

"My receptionist handles the money, not me," Dr. Haruki said. "Since she's gone for the day, you don't need to worry about it."

Inuyasha was grateful for the man's generosity, partially because he didn't really have money on himself at the moment to pay the man anyway. He bowed respectfully and said, "Thank you."

Dr. Haruki dismissed his thanks with a wave of his hand. "It's nothing really."

Then Inuyasha remembered how Ms. Sato had asked him to bring in a doctor's note. This was probably the best, and only, chance he was going to get to do so. "Um, Dr. Haruki, may I ask one more favor?" Inuyasha asked, trying to be extra polite. Sensei noticed the effort and raised an eyebrow as if to ask what exactly he was up to.

"I don't promise to say yes, but you can ask," Dr. Haruki said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Could you possible write my school a note saying I was sick with the flu for the past week and a half?" Inuyasha asked.

"Since I haven't treated you for that, no," Dr. Haruki said. "I'm not in the habit of helping kids skip school."

Inuyasha bristled a little at the kid comment, but he couldn't really argue with the man given he'd just treated his injury for free.

"Do me a favor then, and write him the note," Sensei said. Inuyasha looked at him in surprise, and then realized that since Sensei knew where he'd been he must have realized why Inuyasha wanted the note.

Dr. Haruki narrowed his eyes. "I assume you have a good reason for asking this."

"I do," Sensei said, but he didn't elaborate further.

Dr. Haruki sighed. "Fine. But you owe me for this." He scribbled the note out on a piece of stationary and handed it to Inuyasha.

"Thanks," Inuyasha said again.

"Really don't mention it," the doctor said as he showed them out.

After they had left, Sensei asked, "How did you really get that injury?"

"I was stabbed by a demon toad's tongue," Inuyasha said.

Sensei stared at him.

"Long story," he mumbled.

Sensei sighed. "Does your friend have anyone to teach her how to use that sword of hers?"

"No," Inuyasha said. "Most people in the Feudal Era don't want anything to do with her since she's a half demon."

"Bring her to the dojo tomorrow on your way to school," Sensei said. "I'll expect you to do so every day that you're in this time for school, understand?"

Inuyasha perked up. "Really, you'll train her?"

Sensei snorted. "It would be a crime not to train someone who so obviously doesn't have a clue what they're doing."

Soon they parted ways, and Inuyasha made it back to the shrine. "Inuyasha!" Souta yelled running to him. "You're okay!"

"Of course I am," Inuyasha said. "It'll take more than a demonic mask to kill me. Is Hojo still here?"

Souta shook his head. "No, he had to get home when Kagome showed up."

Inuyasha nodded. That was pretty much what he'd expected, and he hoped that Hojo didn't get in trouble for staying out so late after school without warning his parents.

"Well," Kagome said, "I'd better head back. I'm sure Shippo is worried about us, and I need to let him know we're all right."

"Okay," Inuyasha said. "Kagome, I spoke with Sensei and he agreed to train you."

Her face lit up with a smile. "Really?"

"Yeah," he said. "He wants you to start tomorrow, so you need to be here at about um…" Inuyasha trailed off for a moment, thinking. They hadn't used the same system for telling time five hundred years ago as was now used in the present. So telling her to show up at 6:45 AM would mean nothing to her. "Be here just after sunrise," he finally said.

Kagome nodded. "I will. Thanks, Inuyasha."

"No problem," Inuyasha said, and then she left.

* * *

It was with some relief that Kagome arrived back in her normal time. Inuyasha's era seemed like a fascinating place, but it was also completely alien to everything she was used to. "I suppose I'll have to get used to it," Kagome mused. "After all, it looks like I'm going to be spending quite a bit of time there."

She walked back to the village. When she had answered Souta's plea for help, she had left Shippo with Kaede. Even though she was eager to tell Shippo that everything was fine now, she found her steps slowing as she neared Kaede's hut. Kagome didn't really enjoy being around Kaede now; being in the woman's presence only served to remind Kagome of the fact that Kikyo was dead, and everyone except Inuyasha thought she was responsible.

_Kikyo was my dear friend,_ Kagome thought. _I would never have hurt her. But who did? And why would they want her to think I was responsible?_

Kagome couldn't think of anyone who'd put together such an elaborate plot or what their reasons for doing so might have been. Given all this had happened fifty years ago, she supposed it was likely that she would never find out.

She entered Kaede's hut and found Shippo sleeping while Kaede sat up and sipped on a cup of tea. "Is everything alright with Inuyasha?" Kaede asked.

Kagome nodded. "It is now. There was some sort of cursed Noh mask with a jewel shard attacking people."

"I see," Kaede said. They were silent for a moment and then Kaede spoke again. "Kagome, I believe I owe you an apology."

"You do?" Kagome asked, surprised.

Kaede nodded. "I do. I have been suspicious of you and held you responsible for my sister's death; however, after much thought I have decided to believe you when you say you did not hurt Kikyo or attack my village."

Kagome's legs suddenly felt weak, and she had to sit.

"When I knew you as a child, you were always a gentle person. Kikyo never felt you were a threat to us then, and all you have done since you've been released is help us now. I do not know who killed my sister, or why they wanted everyone to believe it was you, but from now on I will trust you."

Kagome had to blink back tears from her eyes. "Thank you."


	9. Chapter 9

The Soul Piper and the Mischievous Little Soul

Part 1

_Skulls surrounded him, their empty eye sockets boring into the depths of his soul, their gaze freezing the muscles of his body so it wouldn't move, no matter how much his mind screamed for it to do so. He strained against the paralysis, ordering himself to run, to escape from that haunting stare, but to no avail. It wouldn't matter even if he could move. The gazes would follow him no matter where he went, whether he could see them or not._

_Still, he couldn't help but try._

_Then, as though reading his mind, the skulls started laughing. It was the most horrible sound he'd ever heard, their teeth clacking together in a hollow mockery of a supposedly joyful sound. The noise grew louder and louder, echoing until he thought it was going to split open his skull, and he tried to open his mouth and scream to drown out the noise, but just as he couldn't get his legs or arms to move, his jaw wouldn't open either, and suddenly his lungs were frozen too, and he was _dying_, and that horrible, echoing, not-laughter was going to be the last sound he ever heard…_

* * *

Inuyasha woke with a gasp and sat up, if only to prove to himself that he could move after all. There was no sound of clacking teeth or echoing laughter either, just the blessed silence of a house in which all the occupants are asleep. Even so, it took a few minutes for his heart to stop racing and his hands to stop trembling.

Inuyasha cursed softly. _I haven't had a nightmare like that since I spent the night at the Lord's mansion._ That had been several days ago, and since another dream hadn't happened since then, Inuyasha had been able to make himself forget the first disturbing nightmare. "This better not happen all the time now," he grumbled, trying hard not to think about the details of his nightmare, or the memories it inspired of Yura's nest of skulls, and how some of those heads had been _fresh_.

He looked at the clock and groaned. It was only just after four in the morning. He didn't need to be up for another two hours, but he was way too keyed up after that nightmare to even hope to go back to sleep, and he didn't much care for the idea of lying in bed for two hours wide awake either. He kicked his covers off and climbed out of bed. He'd probably pay for this bout of insomnia later that afternoon, but there wasn't much he could do about it now.

Collecting his staff, Inuyasha went downstairs and slipped on his shoes before going outside. There wasn't enough room in the house for him to practice, and he couldn't think of anything better to do with his time right now. He went through his stretches slowly and deliberately, using the motions to help regulate his breathing, and when he finished Inuyasha went through them again for good measure. Only then did he pick up his staff again and start working his way through the basic moves that Sensei had taught him, but carefully so he wouldn't strain his shoulder. It was tricky to work on the moves without a target or a partner, but Inuyasha didn't mind. The motions helped him to relax and banished the lingering unease and strain that had been present in wake of the nightmare. He kept at it until he'd worked up a sweat despite the coolness of the spring night.

Panting slightly, Inuyasha looked up at the sky. It was still dark outside, with no hint of dawn anywhere. That meant Inuyasha still had plenty of time to kill before he needed to get ready for school, and there was something else he needed to practice. Now was as good a time as any.

Inuyasha settled down in his meditating pose and closed his eyes. He looked inward, and as it had times before when he'd practiced, his power rose to meet him, pushing and pulling at his senses. Finding his power was easy, probably due to all of his years meditating with Sensei. Taking hold of it and using it on purpose was something else altogether. He tried to grasp it, but his efforts were about as successful as trying to grab a fistful of water, and the power slipped away from his metal attempts.

_Why can't I make this work? It's my power isn't it? Why won't it do what I say?_

"Inuyasha?"

His eyes blinked open and were met with more light than had been present when he'd closed them. He looked around and found Souta standing in the doorway to their house, still dressed in his pajamas. "What are you doing?" Souta asked.

"I couldn't sleep," Inuyasha said. "Thought I'd get some practice in." He stood and scooped up his staff.

Souta just shrugged. "Okay. You should probably get ready for school now though. Kagome should be here soon."

"Oh, right," Inuyasha said. He'd almost forgotten about her coming over, and since the sun was starting to peak over the horizon, she should be here any minute. "I'm going to jump in the shower. Think you can handle fixing some ramen for breakfast?"

Mrs. Higurashi had spent the night at the hospital with Gramps, so it was up to the two of them to make breakfast. Inuyasha didn't even kid himself about the idea of making a lunch; they'd be buying their food at school today. _We need to visit Gramps too, if he doesn't get to come home today. We didn't get a chance yesterday, thanks to that stupid Noh mask._

Souta made a face at his suggestion. "Ramen isn't breakfast food!"

"Unless you've suddenly learned how to make something better it is," Inuyasha said, shoving past him into the house and heading up the stairs.

"Should I make some for Kagome too?" Souta called after him.

"Wait until she gets here first to see if she wants it," Inuyasha called back to him. "She might have eaten already before she comes here."

As much as Inuyasha would have enjoyed soaking in a bath, he had to settle for a quick scrub down in the shower. He hastily dressed in his school uniform and gathered his school supplies together, making sure he included the doctor's note from Dr. Haruki, so that he'd be ready to go when Kagome arrived. _If she isn't here already._

He went downstairs lugging his book bag, and sniffed the aroma of ramen appreciatively. Souta might complain about having ramen for breakfast, but Inuyasha wouldn't mind if this became a more regular thing. He walked into the kitchen and found Souta, who was dressed in his own school uniform by now, sitting at the kitchen table with Kagome.

Kagome smiled at him, and Inuyasha couldn't help but notice the way her whole face seemed to light up when she did so. "Good morning, Inuyasha."

"Morning," Inuyasha said, taking his own seat and pulling a bowl of ramen close. "Did Souta offer you breakfast?"

Souta glared at him with righteous indignation. "Of course I did!"

"I've already eaten," Kagome put in.

Inuyasha nodded. "Okay, then. Once I've finished I'll walk you over to Sensei's." He glanced over at Souta and said around a mouthful of noodles, "Will you be okay walking to school by yourself?"

Souta looked embarrassed by the question, his eyes darting over to Kagome and then away. "Of course! I always walk to school by myself!"

That was true enough, and normally Inuyasha wouldn't have worried about him at all. But after everything that had happened yesterday he had been worried that Souta might be scared of being alone. After all, he was only a kid, and an easily frightened one at that. But it seemed that the scare with the Noh mask hadn't done any sort of lasting damage and Inuyasha was relieved about that.

"Yeah, yeah," Inuyasha said. He quickly swallowed the last of his ramen and stood. "I'm ready then. Come on, Kagome, I'll walk you to Sensei's dojo."

Kagome stood as well, and Inuyasha could see the anticipatory gleam in her golden eyes. It looked as though she was looking forward to her first lesson. _Heh, wonder how excited she'll be by the end of it._ Inuyasha knew from firsthand experience just how grueling Sensei's lessons could be.

The walk that morning was pleasant; with blue skies and a light breeze, it was shaping up to be a beautiful late spring day. They had left early enough that they beat most of the morning crowd, but Inuyasha noticed the people they did pass all stared at Kagome. For a moment he didn't understand why, but then it clicked. He had spent enough time with her to have adjusted to her unusual appearance, but in the modern era, she stood out like a sore thumb. Her bright red, old fashioned clothing and bare feet were bad enough, but when one added in her long silver hair, dog ears, and golden eyes, it was no wonder people stared. The only good thing was that given no one in the modern era believed in demons, no one should realize she wasn't actually human. But people probably would think she was some kind of weirdo going about dressed like this, and Inuyasha could only imagine the sort of trouble that could happen if some idiot punks saw her and decided to make trouble.

"Remind me to get you some regular clothes," Inuyasha said, "and a hat."

Kagome frowned and looked down at herself. "What's wrong with my clothes?"

"Nothing!" Inuyasha said hastily. He might not know that much about women, but he knew a sentence like that couldn't lead anywhere good. "It's just that no one wears clothes like that anymore, so they make you stand out, and if people notice you too much they might realize you aren't completely human. People now days don't believe in demons, so for someone to realize that you aren't human could be bad."

"Sensei, Hojo, and your family don't mind that I'm not completely human," Kagome said.

"Yeah, well, most people in this world aren't as nice as them," Inuyasha said, internally cringing at associating the word nice with Sensei. It wasn't something he'd ever expected to say about the older man.

"I see," Kagome said. She was silent for a moment and then said, "I have some good news."

"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha asked.

"Kaede spoke to me last night. She said she has decided to believe me that I didn't attack Kikyo or the village, and she's going to trust me now," Kagome said. She practically glowed with happiness, her face once more lit up with her pretty smile. The sight of her filled with such unabashed joy made Inuyasha's stomach do little flips that he really didn't appreciate.

_Stop that,_ he ordered it. It didn't listen.

"Here we are," Inuyasha said as they arrived at Sensei's dojo. "Knowing Sensei he's in the dojo already, so we shouldn't keep him waiting."

Kagome followed him to the dojo and true to his prediction Sensei was already there. Sensei nodded in greeting. "Inuyasha, Kagome."

"Morning, Sensei," Inuyasha said.

Kagome bowed formally. "Thank you for your help. I don't know how to repay you."

Sensei shrugged. "Just do your best and that will be payment enough." He looked over at Inuyasha. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

"Right," Inuyasha said. "See you both this afternoon."

He finished his walk to school and met Hojo at the gates like usual. "Good morning, Inuyasha," Hojo greeted warmly. "Any word on when Gramps is coming home?"

"Not yet," Inuyasha said as they fell in step beside each other and walked toward the building. "If they aren't back when I get home this afternoon I'll probably go to the hospital to check on him."

Hojo nodded. "I see."

"Hey, you didn't get in trouble last night 'cause you were out so late, did you?" Inuyasha asked.

Hojo shook his head. "No, I didn't. I told my parents you had a family emergency and I stayed to help you out. They did fuss at me for not calling though." His face suddenly lit up and he snapped his fingers. "Oh, I almost forgot! Mom sent a gift from her shop for Gramps." Hojo dug through his backpack and pulled out a small bag and handed it to Inuyasha. "It's tea, to soothe his throat. She thought he might need some since he breathed in smoke."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said, tucking the package into his own bag. "That was really thoughtful of her." Hojo's mom really was a sweet person.

"Also, she wants you to come over for dinner soon," Hojo added. "She says it's been too long since she and Dad have gotten to see you."

After Inuyasha and Hojo had become friends, they had spent so much time together that they'd gotten to know each others family's very well. As a result, Hojo's parents were like an aunt and uncle to Inuyasha. "Sure thing," Inuyasha said. "Don't know when I'll have time though. Tonight definitely isn't good for me."

By then they had made it to their classroom and settled into their desks. A moment later Ms. Sato walked into the room. "Settle down, everyone," she said. "It's time to begin."

Inuyasha struggled through his morning classes. Missing so much school really had gotten him behind, and in some subjects he simply had no idea what they were talking about. _I have got to study those notes Hojo gave me, and get to work on all my makeup assignments._ He'd have started the night before, but for obvious reasons that hadn't worked out.

He was relieved when lunch time rolled around, but before he could get started on his food, Ms. Sato appeared in the doorway. "Inuyasha, I need to speak with you out in the hall," she said.

Realizing what this was about, Inuyasha dug out the note from his book bag and followed her out into the hall. "Here, Ms. Sato, I have the note," Inuyasha said holding it out for her.

She took the note and scanned it. Her frown deepened for a moment, but then she nodded. "Very well, it all looks to be in order. Try to stay healthy from now on; you're a good student, Inuyasha, but your grades aren't so good that you can afford to miss so much school."

"Yes ma'am," Inuyasha said.

She waved a hand in dismissal. "Go on back to lunch."

"How'd it go?" Hojo asked when Inuyasha made it back to his desk.

"Fine," Inuyasha said. "I managed to get a doctor's note last night after the fight with the Noh mask."

"How'd you manage that?" Hojo asked.

Inuyasha gave him an abbreviated version of the events that had happened after the fight with the Noh mask in between bites of food. Hojo looked mildly alarmed by the end of it. "You were injured?" he asked.

"It isn't a big deal," Inuyasha said. "I'll be completely recovered in a few days."

"I guess hunting down jewel shards is more dangerous than I'd realized," Hojo said.

Inuyasha shrugged, trying to play it off. "I guess, but don't worry, I'll be fine." Hojo didn't really look convinced, and to distract him Inuyasha threw out another question. "Hey, do you know where to shop for girl's clothes?"

Hojo's eyes widened with surprise. "When did you start wearing girl's clothes?"

Inuyasha almost threw his chopsticks at the other teenager. "They aren't for me, stupid! They're for Kagome! She's going to be coming to the present to train with Sensei whenever I'm here, but she stands out too much in her usual stuff, and she definitely needs a hat to cover her ears."

"I see what you mean," Hojo said thoughtfully. Then he smiled brightly and said, "I have no idea how to help you."

"Seriously?" Inuyasha groaned.

"I'm an only child and a guy," Hojo pointed out. "I've never needed to go shopping for clothes for a girl."

"You've never bought clothes for a girlfriend before?" Inuyasha asked.

Hojo shook his head. "That would be a really personal sort of gift, I think. I've never been serious enough with any of the girls I've dated to buy them something like that."

"They haven't even dragged you off shopping before?" Inuyasha asked, but with no real hope this time.

"Nope," Hojo said with a shrug. "Sorry. Maybe you should ask your mom for help?"

Inuyasha grimaced. Going shopping with Kagome and his mother did not sound fun at all. "Joy." Then he perked up a bit as a new thought occurred to him. "Sensei has Usagi, and he has to buy her clothes. Maybe he knows where to go shopping for stuff."

"Usagi is ten," Hojo pointed out. "I doubt ten year olds and teenage girls shop at the same stores. Besides, can you imagine Sensei's reaction to you asking him to go shopping with you?"

Now that Inuyasha stopped to think, he could imagine how Sensei would react. "Um, yeah, I think I'll ask my mom."

Hojo nodded. "That's probably for the best."

Lunch ended and the afternoon classes began. As Inuyasha had predicted, his early morning came back to bite him as he found himself not only struggling to understand the material but also to stay awake. But at last the school day ended and he was free to go.

As usual, Hojo walked with Inuyasha to Sensei's dojo. As they passed a park, Inuyasha's attention was caught by some kids playing with sparklers. When he glanced over at them, he spotted a girl in a thick red coat, which was weird because while it certainly wasn't at the hottest point of the year yet, it was much too warm for a coat like that. Then she tossed a lit firecracker into the group of children, causing them to scream and scatter with fright when it went off.

"Little brat," Inuyasha said as she dashed off, unnoticed by the other kids or their parents.

"You're condemning children for being frightened of an unexpected firecracker?" Hojo asked. "That's a bit harsh, even for you."

"What? No, not them, I'm talking about the girl in the red coat who threw it at them," Inuyasha said.

Hojo frowned and leaned forward to look around Inuyasha. "What girl in a red coat? I didn't see anyone like that."

"Seriously? She was right there," Inuyasha said, looking back at the park. "I can't believe none of the parents spotted her either." Inuyasha came to a complete halt when he saw her floating up into the air, beside a large round creature that had to be a demon that was playing a pipe. He grabbed Hojo's shoulder and pointed. "There she is! She's flying, and that's got to be a demon with her!"

Hojo followed the direction of Inuyasha's finger but said, "Inuyasha, I don't see anything."

"How do you not see them?" Inuyasha snapped. "They're floating in the sky, plain as day!"

Hojo tapped his chin with a finger, a sign that he was thinking deeply. "Perhaps you're seeing a ghost."

Inuyasha blinked at him. "A ghost?"

Hojo shrugged. "It's said that priests can see ghosts, and you do have spiritual abilities. Perhaps this is simply one of the new things that you can do."

Inuyasha looked back towards the girl and the demon, but they were both gone. "Well that's a creepy thought," he said. "Not sure I want to go around seeing ghosts. And if she was a ghost, what was up with that demon that was with her?"

"That I don't have an answer for," Hojo said. "Perhaps Kagome would be more helpful to you there."

"Probably," Inuyasha agreed. They arrived at the dojo a few minutes later and said their goodbyes as Hojo continued on his way home.

Inuyasha entered the dojo and found that he was the first person to arrive for his class, which wasn't all that unusual. Sensei of course was already there, and Kagome was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Kagome?" Inuyasha asked.

"She's at the house," Sensei said. "Usagi was quite thrilled to meet her, so she'll be staying there until you're done with your lessons today."

"How'd she do?" Inuyasha asked.

Sensei scowled at him. "You know I don't discuss such things with other students. Now go get changed for practice."

"Yes, Sensei," Inuyasha grumbled. He didn't think it was out of line to ask about Kagome's ability. After all, if it wasn't for Inuyasha, she wouldn't even be Sensei's student right now. _I'll just have to ask Kagome later._

The others started to arrive while Inuyasha was changing, and as soon as they saw him he faced a bunch of questions about where he'd been lately. Claiming he'd been sick with the flu was enough to satisfy their curiosity.

_Guess I'm not such a terrible liar after all; at least not with people who aren't close to me._

Getting to practice with his class again was fun, and Inuyasha was mildly surprised to realize how much he'd missed this when he'd been in the past. Unfortunately, his early morning made him tire out quicker than usual, and Sensei noticed.

"Is your shoulder bothering you?" he asked gruffly.

"No, Sensei," Inuyasha said, which was the truth; his shoulder didn't hurt at all.

"Then explain your performance now," Sensei growled.

"I had an early morning," Inuyasha said. He didn't bother to elaborate why. He didn't want to talk about his nightmare, and he didn't expect Sensei to care either.

"That's not a good enough reason for such a sloppy performance," Sensei said. "Step it up."

By the time practice ended Inuyasha was well and truly exhausted, and he wanted nothing more than to go home, soak in the bath for a while, and then crawl into bed. Unfortunately, he knew that wasn't going to happen.

He walked from the dojo to Sensei's house and knocked on the door. A moment later Usagi opened it and smiled brightly up at him. "Inuyasha, come on in," Usagi said while grabbing his hand and dragging him inside. "Kagome and I were having tea. Would you like some?"

"Sorry, Usagi, but I have to get home," Inuyasha said, relieved to have an excuse to decline. Usagi was okay as far as kids went, but the tea she made was insanely sweet, and Inuyasha wasn't sure how Sensei managed to stand the stuff.

Usagi's face fell and tears gathered in her big brown eyes. "But I really wanted you to have some of the tea I made," she said, her bottom lip starting to wobble. It was a ploy and Inuyasha knew it, though it usually worked on him. This time Inuyasha was saved by the fact that he really couldn't stay.

"Sorry, but Gramps is still in the hospital after his accident so Souta and I have to go visit him," Inuyasha said.

Usagi's tears instantly vanished. "Oh, I see! Well of course you have to. Kagome! Inuyasha's here to get you!"

Kagome walked into the front room and smiled at the both. "Hey, Inuyasha. Usagi, it was a pleasure meeting you. Thank you for the tea."

Usagi beamed up at her. "Anytime, Kagome. Come see me again soon!"

They left and Kagome said, "Usagi is a sweet girl."

"I guess so," Inuyasha said. "How'd training go today?"

Kagome frowned. "Not quite the way I expected. I spent all morning cleaning and sharpening the sword."

"But it transforms," Inuyasha said. "Sensei knows that."

"He didn't seem to care," Kagome said. "He said it was disrespectful to let it exist in such a state, even if it was only temporary."

Inuyasha shook his head. "Yeah, that sounds like Sensei. Did you actually have any time to train?"

Kagome nodded. "I did get to train, but it didn't seem like much. I got to practice how to properly swing my sword."

"Did he say anything about how you did?" Inuyasha asked.

"He said I wasn't completely hopeless," Kagome sighed sounding discouraged.

"Coming from him, that's a compliment," Inuyasha assured her.

"It didn't feel like one," Kagome said.

They lapsed into silence for a moment, and then Inuyasha remembered the incident with the ghost girl and the demon that he'd wanted to tell Kagome about. "Hey, Kagome, I think I saw a ghost today," Inuyasha said, and quickly informed her of what he'd seen. "So, do you know what that demon might have been?" he asked when he finished.

"Sounds like it might be a tatarimokke," Kagome said thoughtfully.

"What's a tatarimokke?" Inuyasha asked. "Is it dangerous?"

"Not normally," Kagome said. "It plays with the souls of dead children until they're ready to move on to the afterlife. Only sometimes a child might not be willing to move on and become a vengeful spirit. If that happens, the tatarimokke's eyes will open and it will drag the child's soul to Hell."

Inuyasha frowned. "I think the one I saw had its eyes half open."

"Then the girl it was with must be a vengeful spirit now," Kagome said.

"So, what?" Inuyasha asked. "She's just going to go to Hell?"

Kagome nodded and sighed. "It looks that way. It's sad, but it does happen sometimes."

"She's just a _kid_," Inuyasha said. "I mean, sure she seemed like a brat, but how could she have done anything that warrants going to Hell over?"

"How should I know?" Kagome replied. "It's just the way things work."

"It isn't fair," Inuyasha grumbled.

"Life rarely is," Kagome said quietly, and seeing the far off look in her eyes Inuyasha realized that she must be thinking of her own life, which had hardly been fair so far. He felt a twinge of guilt for bringing up unpleasant memories, even if he'd done so by accident. But moments later the look passed and Kagome was smiling again as usual. "How's your grandfather doing?"

"Okay, I guess," Inuyasha said. "When we get home I'll find out if he's coming home today or if they want to keep him at the hospital again tonight, but I think they'll let him come back."

"Please tell him I'm hoping for his quick recovery," Kagome said.

"Sure thing," Inuyasha said.

They arrived back at the shrine and Kagome said goodbye as she headed toward the well house. "Tell Shippo I said hello," Inuyasha said. "And if he's wondering, tell him I'm planning to come back the day after tomorrow."

"I will," Kagome said.

Inuyasha went in the house and found Souta sprawled out on the living room floor, watching TV while he did his homework. "Hey, squirt," Inuyasha said. "Has Mom called to update us on Gramps?"

"Yeah, he's coming home this afternoon," Souta said. He pushed himself up into a sitting position and sent Inuyasha a pleading look. "Do you think we could go to the hospital to meet them on their way home?"

"I've got a ton of makeup work I need to get started on for school," Inuyasha said.

"Please?" Souta begged.

"Why do you want to go so bad?" Inuyasha asked. "Gramps is coming home, so there isn't much point in visiting him."

"I wanted to visit Satoru," Souta admitted. "It's been nearly two weeks since I went last, and I don't want his mother to think I've stopped coming."

Inuyasha was so tired that it took him a minute to remember who Satoru was. He was a kid from Souta's class who'd been in a fire six months ago and had been in a coma ever since. Inuyasha could still remember the way Souta had gone on and on about it right after it had happened.

"Can't it wait?" Inuyasha grumbled.

"I guess," Souta said. "It's just…no one else is visiting him anymore, so I don't want to go too long in between visits if I can help it. I don't want him or his mom to think we've all stopped caring."

Oh geeze. When he put it like that, it was hard to say no. "Alright then, grab your shoes," Inuyasha said. "You can visit him, but we'll have to make it quick. I've got stuff to do tonight."

"Thanks Inuyasha!" Souta said, a smile breaking out on his face.

The trip to the hospital involved a crowded train ride, and Inuyasha was relieved when they were able to get off. As they walked from the station to the hospital, Inuyasha asked, "So how come the other kids in your class quit coming to visit?"

Souta fidgeted as he answered, looking mildly sheepish but also a little worried. "They think he's being haunted."

"Haunted?" Inuyasha asked with surprise. He hadn't expected an answer like that.

"Yeah," Souta said. "When people came to visit Satoru, things started happening to them. They'd get pushed down the stairs, or almost hit by a car, and it really freaked them out. Satoru had an older sister named Mayu who died in the fire, and some of the guys in my class think her ghost is haunting him now." Souta frowned and looked up at Inuyasha. "Do you believe in ghosts? Do you think Satoru is really being haunted?"

He didn't have much of a choice but to believe in ghosts now since he'd seen one earlier that afternoon. "Yeah, I believe in ghosts," Inuyasha said. "But just because I think ghosts are real doesn't necessarily mean Satoru is being haunted. It could just be bad luck or something."

"I guess," Souta said, but he didn't sound convinced.

They entered the hospital and almost immediately ran into Mrs. Higurashi and Gramps leaving. "Boys, what are you doing here?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"I wanted to visit Satoru, so Inuyasha brought me," Souta said.

Mrs. Higurashi smiled at them. "That's very sweet of both of you. Don't stay too long now."

"We won't," Inuyasha said. "Oh, and Gramps, Hojo's mom sent over some tea for you from her shop, and Kagome wishes you well."

Gramps smiled. "Wonderful! I may enjoy a cup once I get home."

Souta tugged on Inuyasha's sleeve. "Come on, visiting hours will end soon."

"I'm coming," Inuyasha said, and let Souta drag him over to the elevators. The sooner this visit was over with, the sooner Inuyasha could get back to doing more important things.

* * *

AN: Just wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who is reading this story, or who've left me reviews! You are all wonderful! However, I do have a quick request. The three OCs I've introduced, Sensei, Dr. Haruki, and Ms. Sato, are going to be reoccurring characters in this story. Not every chapter, but they will show up fairly regularly. I know that often people aren't big fans of OCs, and I really don't want my OCs to dominate this story as it is meant to focus on Inuyasha. So I would appreciate feedback on how the OCs are working out. Do you like them, not like them, not have much of an opinion either way? Do you like the idea of them showing up again, would you rather they were never again mentioned? If you could take a moment to let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate it!


	10. Chapter 10

The Soul Piper and the Mischievous Little Soul

Part 2

Satoru's mother smiled at them when they entered the room. "Souta, it's good to see you again," she said. She stepped towards them as she spoke and Inuyasha couldn't help but notice the burn scars on her hands.

_Those must be from the fire._

"How's Satoru doing?" Souta asked. "Is there any chance he might wake up soon?"

Souta's words made Inuyasha study the small figure on the bed. The boy looked so fragile lying there in a bed sized for adults and hooked up to various tubes and monitors.

"I'm afraid not," he heard Satoru's mother say. "He's been in a coma for six months now, and the doctors don't have any idea when he might wake up."

Inuyasha was about to turn towards them when a flash of red caught his eye. He looked down to see the ghost girl from the park peeking out from under the bed. She reached up and took hold of the tube connected to the IV and yanked on it, causing the IV bag to burst.

"Hey!" Inuyasha said and lunged for the girl. She looked at him with wide eyed surprise for half a second before vanishing just before he was able to grab hold of her.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing?" Souta asked.

Inuyasha looked up at Souta and Satoru's mom and realized how odd his actions must seem since neither of them could see the ghost girl. "Um, I thought I saw something under the bed," Inuyasha stammered. He looked under the bed again, but the girl was really gone. "Nothing there after all, guess I was wrong." He beat a hasty retreat from the bed, trying not to look as embarrassed as he actually felt. Satoru's mother ignored his embarrassment to call a nurse to replace the torn IV bag.

"I don't know why these accidents keep happening," she said, worry hanging on her like weights.

They left a few minutes later, and Inuyasha couldn't help but think about that girl. _What was up with her? Why is she trying to hurt Satoru?_ His frown deepened as he remembered what Souta had said about Satoru having an older sister who had died in the fire, and how his classmates thought she might be haunting him. _Maybe that's her; maybe she's angry that her little brother survived and she didn't._

But that reasoning didn't make much sense to Inuyasha. If Souta survived a fire and Inuyasha didn't, he'd just be glad that his little brother had escaped. He'd certainly never resent the fact that they hadn't died together.

_What does it matter though? It isn't any of my business._

Maybe not, but a helpless kid was being targeted by a vindictive ghost that only Inuyasha could see. If Inuyasha did nothing and something bad happened to Satoru, he knew he'd feel like it was his fault.

_Dang it, how do I get myself into these messes? I don't have a clue how to go about dealing with an angry ghost._

A good start though might be confirming his suspicions about her identity, and figuring out why she was targeting Satoru. Inuyasha figured if this ghost girl really was Mayu, she'd probably hang out around the place where she'd died.

"Hey, Souta, do you know where Satoru lived before?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yeah," Souta said. "Why?"

"I'd like to go by there real quick," Inuyasha said. "See, I think your classmates might be right; I think Mayu might be haunting her brother."

Souta stopped walking and stared at him. "Seriously? There's actually a haunting going on?"

"Yeah, there's definitely a haunting, though I'm not sure if it's actually Mayu," Inuyasha said. "When Satoru's IV busted I saw a little girl in a red coat do it. That's why I dove for the bed; I was trying to catch her. If it is Mayu, I figure she'll hang out near the place where she died so I might be able to find her and figure out a way to make her stop."

"You can see ghosts now?" Souta said. "That's so cool! And kind of creepy."

"It's a hassle is what it is," Inuyasha grumbled.

Souta led the way to the apartment Satoru's family had lived in. Looking up at the blackened balcony several stories up, Inuyasha asked, "If the fire happened six months ago, how come they haven't repaired the place yet?"

"Every time they tried accidents happened to the workers," Souta said. "Eventually the work just sort of stopped."

"Accidents, huh," Inuyasha said. "Sounds like Mayu really might be a vengeful ghost now." Suddenly a potted plant that had been left of the balcony floated up and fell towards them. Inuyasha reacted without thinking, snatching Souta up and diving out of the way. The plant smashed into the sidewalk where they'd been standing just seconds before.

"Ghost!" Souta gasped, his face pale and eyes wide.

"Just breathe, Souta," Inuyasha ordered. He didn't need his little brother freaking out on him right now. Souta clung to Inuyasha and did as ordered. Inuyasha looked back up at the balcony and saw the same girl from before standing on the railing glaring down at them. She jumped off and floated gently down to the sidewalk.

"I guess you're Mayu," Inuyasha said.

"Duh," the girl responded, rolling her eyes. If she hadn't already been on Inuyasha's insufferable brat list, that one action would have put her there.

Souta tugged on Inuyasha's shirt. "Inuyasha, who are you talking to?"

Inuyasha didn't take his eyes off of Mayu as he responded; she might only be a kid, but she'd already proved she was willing to harm others. "Mayu's ghost is here," he said. He heard Souta gasp and the arms around his waist tightened.

_Hope I don't need to move fast; Souta holding on to me like this is going to slow me down._

"Why are you trying to hurt your brother?" Inuyasha asked.

"Because I hate him!" Mayu said. "I hate him, and I hate Mommy most! I'm going to make sure Satoru dies too!"

Even though Mayu was nothing like Sesshomaru really, her declaration made Inuyasha think of the cold demon and his attempt to kill Kagome. _Am I the only sane older sibling left in this world or something?_

"Why do you hate them?" Inuyasha asked. "What'd they ever do to you?"

"Mommy saved him in the fire and left me to die!" Mayu yelled, her hands clenched into fists and her whole body shaking.

"Okay, that is kind of bad," Inuyasha admitted out of surprise. But their mother had seemed like a really sweet woman, and judging by the burn scars on her hands, she'd probably risked her own life to save Satoru. He couldn't imagine that she would have purposely left Mayu to die in the fire. There had to be a piece of the story missing. "But I'm sure she wouldn't have knowingly left you there to die. Something must have happened to stop her from saving you."

"Shut up!" Mayu snapped. "You don't know anything! I'm going to kill Satoru, and if you get in my way I'm going to kill you too!" She vanished from sight and a strong wind blasted them. Bushes and even a tree were ripped out of the ground and levitated into the air. Inuyasha twisted and crouched, both to make himself a smaller target and to shield Souta from the falling debris. The plants fell to the ground, the tree making a sickening thud as it hit the ground just a few feet from them. Just as suddenly as it had all begun, it ended, and everything was quiet.

Inuyasha pulled back a little to check on Souta. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Y-yeah," Souta said, but Inuyasha could see the tears in his eyes and feel him trembling with fear. Inuyasha's muscles tensed as anger washed over him. _No one_ did this to his little brother and got away with it. Inuyasha didn't care if she was only a child, and he didn't care if she'd died tragically and unfairly. She was going to pay one way or another.

"Come on, let's get home," Inuyasha said, his tone slightly rougher than he'd meant it to be. Souta nodded and stuck close to Inuyasha's side when they left.

While they rode the train, Souta finally asked, "What was Mayu saying to you?"

Inuyasha sighed. "She said she wanted Satoru and her mother to pay because her mother left her in the fire to die."

"She wouldn't do something like that, she's way too nice," Souta said. "I mean, she went in after Satoru."

"That's what I thought too, but Mayu seems convinced it was done on purpose," Inuyasha said.

Souta was quiet a moment and then said, "I heard that the fire fighters found Mayu in a closet. Maybe her mom just didn't know she was in the apartment, and that's why she only saved Satoru."

"Could be," Inuyasha said. "Not sure it matters to her though."

When they made it back home Mrs. Higurashi had dinner ready and waiting for them. "Mom, Inuyasha says that Satoru is being haunted by his sister's ghost," Souta blurted out as they sat down at the table.

"Is this true?" Gramps immediately demanded.

"Yeah," Inuyasha said. "Apparently I can see ghosts now thanks to my spiritual abilities. I talked with her and she seems convinced that her mother let her die in that fire on purpose and now she's after her brother for revenge."

"How awful," Mrs. Higurashi said.

"And I saw a demon with her earlier that Kagome said is a tatarimokke," Inuyasha added.

"Were its eyes opening?" Gramps asked, and for a second Inuyasha was surprised that Gramps knew what he was talking about.

_Well, he is a priest. I guess he does know his stuff even if I never believed him before._

"They were," Inuyasha said. "When I saw it, its eyes were about halfway open."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"When the tartarimokke's eyes open all the way it will take the child's soul to Hell," Gramps said grimly. "A terrible fate for her, but it may be what saves her brother if it takes her before she manages to harm him."

"Is there any way to get rid of her sooner?" Inuyasha said. "I don't want anyone getting hurt, and she's dangerous."

"Preferably without sending her to Hell," Mrs. Higurashi said, an unusually sharp tone in her voice. Her words inspired a small amount of guilt in Inuyasha; in his anger with the girl, he hadn't particularly cared whether or not she went to Hell, as long as she would no longer be a danger to anyone.

"Perhaps," Gramps said. "I do know of a ritual that is supposed to help ghosts let go of their attachments to this world and move on to the afterlife, but the records we have indicate that it doesn't always work. Sometimes a ghost's attachments may prove to be too strong, and whoever performs the ritual may be placed in danger."

"Grandpa, you can't do that," Mrs. Higurashi said. "You just got out of the hospital, you aren't strong enough for something like that yet."

"I'll do it," Inuyasha said. The adults looked at him in surprise as he continued, "I've got spiritual abilities, so I should be able to do this. If you'll tell me how Gramps, I'll handle this tonight."

"Tonight?" Mrs. Higurashi said. "Why not at least wait until morning?"

Inuyasha would have loved to wait; he was still exhausted from his early morning and practice that afternoon, and he certainly wasn't going to be at his best for this. "I've got a bad feeling that if I wait until tomorrow it'll be too late," Inuyasha said. "I mean it isn't like there's any reason for Mayu not to try and hurt Satoru again tonight. The sooner this is done, the better."

Gramps stood from the table. "Then come. I need to show you what to do. You'll want to get this right the first time."

It took an hour to gather all the supplies and go through the ritual enough that Inuyasha thought he'd be able to do it correctly. By then the sun was beginning to set. "Perhaps I should come with you," Gramps said. "I don't like the idea of you doing this by yourself."

"No, you need to stay here like Mom said," Inuyasha quickly responded. "But you're right that I shouldn't go alone. I'm going to get Kagome and bring her back here. She'll help me."

Gramps nodded. "Very well. But hurry, Inuyasha. If you're having a bad feeling about this, then there might not be much time left."

Inuyasha went to the well house and jumped down the well without hesitation. The now familiar light flared up around him and he settled gently on the bottom of the well. He climbed out using the vines for help and was surprised at how much effort it took. _Man I'm going to collapse tonight._ But he couldn't afford to rest yet, he had to keep going.

He headed for Kaede's hut, figuring that was the most likely place to find Kagome. Before he quite made it to the door Shippo barreled outside and jumped on him. "Inuyasha, you're here early!" he cried happily.

Inuyasha automatically caught him. "Yeah, but I'm afraid I can't stay long."

Shippo instantly went from happiness to disappointment. "Why not?"

"Stuff is happening in my time that I need to take care of," Inuyasha said as the mat that acted as Kaede's door rattled and Kagome and Kaede came out.

"What's going on in your time?" Kagome asked with a worried frown.

"Remember that ghost girl I told you about?" Inuyasha asked. He barely waited for Kagome's nod before continuing. "Turns out that she's the sister of one of Souta's friends, and she's determined to kill her little brother."

"Why would she want to do that?" Shippo asked.

"Short version: her home caught on fire and their mom rescued the brother while the older sister ended up dying in the fire so she wants revenge," Inuyasha said. He looked at Kagome. "Gramps taught me a ritual that should make her move on to the afterlife, but I'd rather not face this by myself right now."

"Kagome may not be of much help," Kaede said. "Facing a ghost is not the same as facing a demon; this is a threat that Kagome cannot kill."

"If nothing else she can get me out of there faster than I can go on my own," Inuyasha said, though he didn't relish the idea of being carried by a girl again. "And if I don't do anything, the girl will definitely kill her brother. Will you help me?"

"Of course," Kagome said. "Let's go."

Shippo hopped out of Inuyasha's arms and they left the village quickly. Once they were on the other side of the well Kagome crouched down. "Hop on," she said.

"What?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome sent him an impatient look. "We'll get there quicker if I carry you. This is why you wanted my help, right?"

He'd kind of hoped they'd get through this without her carrying him, but… "Fine," Inuyasha grumbled.

Inuyasha gave her directions and Kagome took off running. It made him catch his breath the first time she jumped up into the air and landed on top of a building. Her strength and abilities never ceased to amaze him.

In a fourth of a time it normally would have taken him, they arrived at the burned out apartment. As soon as Kagome landed on the balcony Inuyasha slid off her back.

"So now what?" Kagome asked.

"Now, we start the ritual," Inuyasha said walking into what had been a living room. "For that I need to find the closet she actually died in."

"How are you supposed to do that?" Kagome asked following him.

"I have no idea," Inuyasha admitted. He wandered around the ruined apartment, trying to decide what closet a frightened girl was most likely to hide in. Looking at a closet in what had probably been a bedroom, Inuyasha got a strange, cold feeling in the pit of his stomach. "That's it," he said.

"Are you sure?" Kagome asked.

"Oh yeah," he said. He walked over to the closet and pulled out the ofuda Gramps had given them. Gramps had said that he had to place the ofuda around the spot where she'd died, and it was paramount that he pray while doing so because it was the prayers that would give them their power.

_Pray he said. Pray how exactly?_

Feeling somewhat awkward in his attempt, Inuyasha prayed as he pasted the first ofuda on the wall of the closet. _Please work; please. Call Mayu here and help her move on to the afterlife._ He put up the second one and continued praying. _Let her soul be purified or something. Don't let her hurt her brother or anyone else._

Was it a trick of the light, or did he really see a slight glow from the papers?

Inuyasha finished pasting all of them up and stepped out of the closet. "That should do it," he said.

"That's all it takes to exorcise her?" Kagome asked. "I thought that you said this was dangerous."

"No, I mean that should bring her here," Inuyasha said. "According to Gramps the dangerous part comes next, if this works."

The floor beneath his feet shook, and a hot wind blasted through the apartment. When it stopped, Mayu was in the closet. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Saving your brother," Inuyasha said, pulling out his last ofuda. This was the one he was supposed to chant over to purify and send on her spirit. "And I guess I'm saving you too."

Out of the corner of his eye Inuyasha saw the tatarimokke floating above the balcony, its eyes almost totally opened. "Kagome," he said, and she stepped between Inuyasha and the demon.

"I see him," she said. "You just take care of the girl; I'll make sure he doesn't interfere."

Holding the ofuda up, Inuyasha began the chant Gramps had painstakingly helped him memorize.

"Stop it!" Mayu screamed. "Stop it!" She rushed at him, but the ofuda in the closet glowed with a sudden brilliant light and Mayu slammed to a halt as though she'd hit an invisible wall. She banged on the barrier with her fists. "Let me out of here! I'll kill you! Let me _out_!"

The floor shook again, and cracks spread along the walls. Inuyasha ignored it, focusing on his chant. If he missed even one syllable, she'd be free and he'd be screwed.

"Stop it!" she screamed.

Inuyasha came to the end of his chant and he threw the ofuda at her. It cut through the air quicker and with more precision than a normal piece of paper, hitting Mayu in the chest. She glowed with a brilliant white light, and Inuyasha felt warmth spread through his whole body that he recognized as his spiritual power. The light faded away, and Mayu along with it. When she disappeared Inuyasha felt completely drained and even more exhausted than he'd been before. Suddenly swaying, he would have fallen over completely if Kagome hadn't caught hold of him and put one of his arms over her shoulders for support.

"The tatarimokke," Inuyasha mumbled.

"It's gone," Kagome said. "Its eyes closed and it flew away when Mayu's ghost disappeared."

Inuyasha sighed with relief, leaning on Kagome. "Good. I'm glad that worked."

"Me too," she said. "But I think you might have overdone it a little."

"Have not," Inuyasha grumbled. "I'll be fine, as soon as the room stops spinning."

"Right," Kagome said. "Think you can hold onto me for a piggy back ride?"

His eyelids felt like cinder blocks, and Inuyasha gave in to the temptation to close them. "Think I'm about to pass out," he said, and then darkness closed in.

* * *

Kagome yelped as Inuyasha slumped over, barely managing to keep her hold on him. It wasn't that he was all that heavy to her, but he was several inches taller than her which made holding him a little awkward.

"I guess that's a no to piggy back," she said. With him completely out like this, there was only one convenient way to hold him, so Kagome scooped him up in both arms and couldn't help but blush a little as his head came to rest on her shoulder. "It's probably a good thing you're unconscious for this," she said. She hadn't missed how uncomfortable Inuyasha was with being carried by her, and this hold was a little more personal than Kagome liked, but it couldn't be helped.

In a few minutes she made it back to the Higurashi shrine, and Inuyasha's family came out of the house to meet her. "Is Inuyasha alright?" Mrs. Higurashi asked as she approached with a worried frown.

"He's fine," Kagome was quick to reassure her. "I think he just used a little more power than he was ready to handle and it wore him out. If he gets some rest he should be just fine."

Gramps nodded sagely. "That makes sense; I've read of such things happening before. I assume the exorcism worked then?"

"Looked like it to me," Kagome said. She smiled at Souta. "Your friend should be just fine now."

Souta smiled back at her. "Good."

"Why don't you go ahead and take Inuyasha upstairs?" Mrs. Higurashi suggested. "Souta, show her the way to Inuyasha's room."

"Yes ma'am," Souta said.

Kagome followed him into the house and up the stairs. A short distance down the hall was Inuyasha's room, and Souta let her in. Kagome couldn't resist peeking around the room a bit, and she wasn't surprised to find it was a bit messy, with dirty clothes tossed in one corner, books and papers scattered across his desk and his bed unmade. Kagome laid him down on the bed. It was strange how peaceful he seemed when he was sleeping, so unlike his usual self when he was awake. Souta tugged off Inuyasha's shoes and pulled the blanket up over him.

"Do you want anything before you go?" Souta asked. "A cup of tea or something?"

Kagome smiled and shook her head. "Thank you for the offer, but no. I need to get back. I'm sure Shippo and Kaede are waiting on a report."

"Oh, right," Souta said, scuffing one foot in the carpet. "Are you still coming tomorrow morning?"

"I plan to," Kagome said. "I want to check on how Inuyasha is doing, plus I told Sensei I'd be here and I don't want to disappoint him."

Souta grinned a little. "Yeah, Sensei is kind of scary when he's mad."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Souta," Kagome said.

"See you tomorrow," he said as she opened the window and jumped to the ground.


	11. Chapter 11

Simple Days

When Inuyasha woke up, he was momentarily confused to find himself back in his room. The last thing he remembered was passing out after exorcising Mayu's ghost. He groaned when he realized Kagome must have carried him back home while he was out of it.

"I can't believe I was carried home by a girl," he grumbled as he sat up. He looked over at his clock and swore when he registered the time. School had started an hour ago. Inuyasha jumped out of bed, but the covers tangled around his legs and he fell to the floor. He was kicking them off when his bedroom door opened and his mother stuck her head inside.

"Oh, you're awake," she said.

"Why didn't anyone wake me up for school?" Inuyasha demanded.

"We thought after the night you had it would be better to let you sleep in," she replied. "How are you feeling this morning?"

Inuyasha paused. He did feel refreshed, but he couldn't afford to miss school. "I guess I'll just have to suck up being late," he said.

"Actually, I was thinking it might be good idea if you stayed home today," Mrs. Higurashi said.

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. "Are you actually suggesting I skip school?" Never in a million years would he have thought to hear his mother say such a thing.

"Well," she said, "I know you haven't had a chance to work on your makeup work at all and you're planning to go back to the Feudal Era tomorrow. You're classes won't do you much good if you don't understand what's going on in them, so why not stay home and do your makeup work today? Even if you can't finish it all, you should still get a good chunk of it done."

"I guess that makes sense," Inuyasha said. "Ms. Sato is still going to get onto me for missing though, I just know it."

"Are you hungry?" Mrs. Higurashi asked. "I saved you some breakfast."

Inuyasha's stomach rumbled at the thought of food, and he remembered he'd only had a few bites of food the night before. "Sure thing," he said, following his mother down the stairs and to the kitchen. As he was eating he remembered Kagome and that she was supposed to train with Sensei again today. "Did Kagome come this morning?" he asked around a mouthful of food.

"Inuyasha, swallow before you speak, you know better than to behave like that," Mrs. Higurashi chided.

Inuyasha swallowed his food. "Sorry. So, did Kagome come by?"

"She did," Mrs. Higurashi said, "but when she saw you were still sleeping she said she could make it to Sensei's dojo by herself."

Inuyasha felt a little bad for not walking her there himself, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now. "Finished," Inuyasha said, pushing his plate away. "Thanks for the food, Mom. I'd better get started on that makeup work now."

Inuyasha went back upstairs and settled in at his desk to do his work. He was relieved to find that his makeup assignments made much more sense than the work he'd been doing in class the past few days. By the time he took a break for lunch, he'd made good headway into the assignments.

While eating he remembered the request he'd wanted to make of his mother. "Hey, Mom, I was thinking that Kagome should have some regular clothes to wear when she's here so she doesn't stand out so much to people, but I don't really know how to shop for girls, so could you help me?"

"Certainly," Mrs. Higurashi said. "Do you want to go this afternoon after your lesson with Sensei?"

"Sounds good," Inuyasha said.

"Just how are you going to pay for these clothes?" Gramps asked. "Kagome isn't going to have any form of usable money."

Dang, he hadn't really thought about that. "I haven't bought anything in a while, so I've got some allowance saved up," Inuyasha said. "I guess I'll use that."

"I'll help if you need a little extra," Mrs. Higurashi assured him. "After all, it isn't like she needs an entire wardrobe, just two or three outfits should be fine."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said appreciatively. "I'll get back to work now." Inuyasha went back to his assignments and by the time he needed to leave for practice he had finished nearly all of them.

"Mom, Gramps, I'm heading out," he called as he went for the front door.

"I'll meet you at Sensei's when your class ends so we can go shopping," Mrs. Higurashi said.

"See you then!" Inuyasha called.

At his practice Inuyasha was pleased to note that his performance was much improved compared to the day before. It seemed a good night's sleep really was all he'd needed to get back to normal. It wasn't until practice ended that Inuyasha realized one drawback to his plan of shopping immediately afterwards. Sensei didn't have showers in his dojo, so Inuyasha usually showered as soon as he got home. Now he was going to have to go shopping in girly shops with his mother and Kagome while still sweaty and smelly.

_Oh well. Not like I care what the shop clerks think of me anyway._

He went outside and found his mother waiting for him, Kagome was already with her, as well as Usagi, which surprised Inuyasha but probably shouldn't have. "Hey, Mom, Kagome," he said. "Ready to go?"

"Just about," Mrs. Higurashi replied. "Usagi wants to come with us, but she needs to get permission from her father first."

"I'll be right back," Usagi said and dashed off towards the dojo.

"How was training?" Inuyasha asked Kagome while they waited.

She smiled at him. "It went well. Are you feeling better today?"

"Much," Inuyasha said. "I just needed some rest."

Usagi reappeared from the dojo, followed closely by Sensei. "You don't mind if she tags along?" he asked Mrs. Higurashi as they got closer.

"Not at all," she responded. "I think it'll be fun to have Usagi with us; she's eager to help Kagome pick out some new clothes. We'll have her back before suppertime."

Sensei nodded. "That's fine then." He looked over at Kagome. "You may want to leave your sword here. The shops won't appreciate you taking it inside. You can pick it up again when you drop off Usagi."

Inuyasha hadn't even thought about that, but Sensei was right. The store employees would not be happy if Kagome took a real sword in them, and they might even go so far as to call the police. That was a headache they really didn't need.

Kagome hesitated so Inuyasha spoke up. "Sensei is right, the stores probably won't even let you in if you have it."

"Alright then," Kagome said, untying the sword from her waist. She handed it over to Sensei.

"We'll be off then," said Mrs. Higurashi. "Let's go!"

As they left Inuyasha noticed some of the guys from his class staring at Kagome. He glared at them and they quickly looked away.

"Thank you for this," Kagome said, distracting him.

"What? Oh, yeah, sure, it's no big deal," Inuyasha said.

Usagi butted in between them and took Kagome's hand. "I'm going to pick out the prettiest dresses for you, Kagome!"

Inuyasha kind of hoped not. Usagi's idea of pretty involved glitter and poufy pink skirts, and Inuyasha thought Kagome would look kind of ridiculous in something like that. _Anyone would look ridiculous dressed like that._

"Here we are," Mrs. Higurashi said. She opened the store door and they went inside. Inuyasha glanced around and was relieved not to notice anything particularly poufy or glittery. Usagi immediately dragged Kagome to the dress rack while Inuyasha's mother started looking at pants and tops. Feeling rather out of place, Inuyasha made his way over to the chairs by the dressing room to sit and wait.

_How long does it take them to pick out clothes to try on?_ he wondered slouching down in his seat.

Eventually they did come to the dressing rooms, and Inuyasha was mildly alarmed at the amount of clothes they had with them. "Does she really need to try on all that?" he asked without thinking.

"Well, we don't know what her sizes are, so she needs to try on a couple different ones so we can figure it out," Mrs. Higurashi explained.

Inuyasha sighed, realizing this was going to take even longer than he'd thought. _Maybe I should have just given Mom the money and let her bring Kagome alone. It's not like they even need me here…_

"Oh, Kagome, you look so pretty!" Usagi gushed from somewhere in the dressing room.

"Are you sure this is how it's supposed to look?" Kagome asked in a voice that wavered with uncertainty.

"Yes!" Usagi said. "We have to show Inuyasha!" Inuyasha rolled his eyes at the declaration. Like he cared what clothes they picked out.

A moment later Usagi was dragging Kagome out of the dressing room, and Inuyasha's thoughts shuddered to a complete stop. Kagome was wearing a sundress that Usagi must have picked out because even though there were no bows, glitter or ruffles, it was a bright shade of pink with a slightly paler, small flower print. The dress's short sleeves showed off Kagome's toned arms, and the way her neckline was shaped like the top of a heart brought Inuyasha's attention to the swell of her chest that had previously been hidden by her usual baggy outfit. The top of the dress was fitted, showing off her slim waist, while the skirt flared loosely over her hips to end just above her knees which provided Inuyasha with a nice view of her calves.

Even after riding piggy back with her, it had simply never occurred to Inuyasha that there was a body hidden under all that red material. Now, Inuyasha was pretty sure he'd never be able to forget.

He was jolted out of his stupor when Usagi practically jumped on him. "Isn't she beautiful?" Usagi said, her brown eyes shining. "She's like a princess!"

"Uh, yeah," Inuyasha said stupidly. "She's really pretty." He glanced back up at Kagome's face, noticing for the first time that she was also wearing a wide brimmed sunhat to cover her ears. But much more eye catching than her hat was the blush that spread across her cheeks.

_She's really cute when she blushes like that._

"I'm going to try something else!" Kagome said in a rush, whirling around and heading back into the dressing room. For the first time, Inuyasha couldn't help but notice the way her hips moved as she did so.

"Ahem."

Inuyasha's head snapped to the side, and it was his turn to blush when he saw his mother watching him with an amused expression. He had completely forgotten she was present. "You could at least try to be subtle," she said.

"Subtle about what?" Usagi asked, glancing back and forth between them. Then her eyes widened in sudden comprehension. "Oh! You like—"

Inuyasha lunged forward and covered her mouth with a hand. "Don't you dare say it," he growled.

Usagi rolled her eyes and pushed his hand away. "You could try asking nicely."

Inyasha's eyebrow twitched, and he was sorely tempted to throttle her. Fear of Sensei's wrath helped to curb his temper. "Please don't say it," Inuyasha managed through gritted teeth.

Usagi sighed dramatically. "I guess that will do. But I expect you to have a tea party with me the next time you come over for practice," she added as she turned back to the dressing room, followed by a still amused looking Mrs. Higurashi.

_Dang it, I knew there would be more._

Now he was going to have to drink Usagi's overly sweet tea just so she wouldn't talk about…

_I do not have a thing for Kagome!_

So what if she was really pretty? So what if she was kick butt, with her super strength and speed, and had a really wicked sword? So what if she was the nicest person he'd ever met? So what if he couldn't think of a single girl that was as remarkable as her?

_Oh, crap. I have a thing for Kagome._

The earth opening up and swallowing him would be really appreciated right now.

What was he supposed to do about this? Ask her out? Did people from five hundred years ago even go on dates? Would she have any idea what dating was? And what made him think she'd say yes anyway? It wasn't like he'd done very much to impress her, given how she'd had to save him more than once already. Just last night he'd passed out on her and she'd had to carry him home. No, he didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell with her.

_So then, just don't tell her anything. If I just keep acting normal, she won't figure out I like her, and then she won't have a chance to shoot me down._

"What do you think about this outfit, Inuyasha?" Usagi called as she pulled Kagome out of the dressing room again.

Inuyasha had never thought about different types of jeans before, but looking at Kagome now he decided skinny jeans were most definitely his favorite. He admired the way they molded to her legs for a moment before he realized he wasn't supposed to be doing that and jerked his gaze away.

"Keh, she looks fine," Inuyasha said in as careless a tone as he could muster. "Are we almost done here?"

"She's just going to try on a few more things and then she'll pick her favorites," Mrs. Higurashi said.

The women retreated back into the dressing room, and Inuyasha closed his eyes, praying for the shopping trip to come to an end. Eventually it did, and Kagome carried her purchases to the register. Inuyasha couldn't help but notice that the pink sundress and the skinny jeans had made it into her picks, along with two tops, the sunhat and a brown knitted cap, and a pair of shoes. Paying for the items took all of the allowance he had saved, as well as some extra money from Mrs. Higurashi. But it was worth the money when Inuyasha saw the smile on Kagome's face as she carried the bag.

They dropped Usagi off at her home and picked up Kagome's sword before going home themselves. When they arrived at Higurashi Shrine, they were enthusiastically greeted by Souta.

"Guess what?" he said running up to them with a huge grin on his face. "Satoru woke up today! The teachers told us at school, and he's going to be okay!"

Inuyasha smiled, glad to know that his efforts at banishing Mayu's ghost had been good for something. "That's great, Souta," he said.

"Glad to hear it's worked out," Kagome added. She looked over at Inuyasha. "I'd better get back. I'm sure Shippo and Myoga are waiting for me."

"Is that flea still hanging around?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome smiled and nodded. "I'm kind of surprised myself. He doesn't usually stick around this long." She glanced down at the bag in her hands and hesitated for a moment.

"I'll take that," Mrs. Higurashi said. "I know you won't wear them in the past, so we can keep them here for you."

Kagome handed the bag over. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

"I'll see you in the morning, Kagome," Inuyasha said. "I'll head through the well after breakfast." They parted ways, and once inside his house Inuyasha made for the stairs immediately. He was going to be in the Feudal Era for a couple days at least, maybe a week, so tonight he was going to soak in a long bath, as it was likely to be the last nice one he'd get until he came back home.

* * *

When Kagome arrived in her own time, she found Shippo and Myoga waiting for her in the clearing around the well. "You're back!" Shippo said. "Finally!"

Kagome smiled at him. "Have you been good today?" she asked.

"Yeah, but I'm bored," he said in a tone that just bordered on whining. Kagome knew enough about fox demons to know that a bored fox demon did not stay a well behaved fox demon for very long.

"Well Inuyasha will be here in the morning, and then we can go out looking for more jewel shards," Kagome said.

_And doing that,_ she thought ruefully, _will probably be more exciting than any of us actually want._

Near death experiences had never been Kagome's idea of a good time.

Myoga hopped onto Kagome's shoulder. "How did your lesson go?" he asked.

"Good," Kagome said. "Sensei is a good teacher." He was a demanding teacher as well, and he seemed to have high expectations for her even though she'd only just started training with him, but he always gave her the tools for meeting those expectations. She already felt more competent with her sword than she had been.

"Myoga, I have a favor to ask," Kagome said. "Sensei's students pay him for the training he gives them, but I don't have a way to do that. Still, I'd like to give him something for helping me."

"I see," Myoga said thoughtfully crossing his arms. "Do you have any ideas?"

Kagome nodded, having already given this issue some thought. When the whole mess with the Noh mask had happened, Inuyasha had gone to Sensei for help, and the man was skilled enough that he could have defeated it himself if he'd had the right sort of weapon. "I'd like to give him a weapon that would actually be helpful against demons."

"How're you supposed to get him something like that?" Shippo asked. "I mean, he's human so a demon weapon won't work for him."

"A demon weapon won't," Myoga agreed, "but demon forges are not the only ones that can create dangerous weapons."

"Of course!" Kagome exclaimed, suddenly understanding. "Demon slayers! A weapon they make will work for him."

"Um, but they're demon _slayers_," Shippo pointed out. "And you're half demon. They probably aren't going to want to trade with you."

Kagome certainly wasn't going to let a little technicality like that stop her. "They won't want to trade with me, but they aren't likely to turn down Inuyasha," she said. "After all, he's a priest in training. They won't turn away his business."

"That could work," Myoga said. "We would just need to be careful that the three of us are not noticed."

They returned to the village and found Kaede had supper waiting for them. As they ate, Shippo told her of their plans to find a slayer village and trade for a weapon.

"Be careful doing that," Kaede said. "Not all slayers attack demons on sight, but some of them do."

"We'll be careful," Kagome assured her.

After dinner Shippo wanted to play, and Kagome indulged him until bedtime. It was necessary for him to get energy out somehow so he didn't get into mischief. It wasn't until after everyone had settled down to sleep that she allowed herself to think back to the shopping trip she had taken that afternoon.

Clothes in the future had changed quite a bit from what she was used to. She could feel herself blushing as she remembered the way Inuyasha had stared at her when she'd worn that pink dress. No guy had ever looked at her like that before.

_He said I was pretty._

Her mother was the only one who'd ever said that about her, and as she had died when Kagome was still very young, so it had been a long time since someone had said something like that about her. She was much more accustomed to being called a monster, or worse, so Inuyasha's compliment almost made her dizzy with pleasure.

Then she frowned as she remembered the way Inuyasha had barely looked at her after that, unsure what had caused the change. _Maybe he was just bored. It isn't like there was very much for him to do there. Or he could have just been tired after his lesson with Sensei. Humans do tire out pretty quickly, after all._ Or maybe he hadn't liked any of the other outfits she'd tried on, but Kagome disliked that idea for some reason. Dismissing that idea from her mind, Kagome decided he was probably just tired. Closing her eyes, Kagome rolled over on the futon Kaede had given her and drifted off to sleep, visions of Inuyasha's purple eyes watching her with admiration dancing through her mind.


	12. Chapter 12

The Mystery of the New Moon and the Black-Haired Kagome

Inuyasha arrived in the past with his staff, a backpack loaded down with supplies, and an eagerness to start traveling. _I wonder how much of the jewel we've already collected,_ Inuyasha thought as he walked towards the village. _I mean, the shards we've gotten aren't very big, but the jewel wasn't exactly huge either._

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha barely had time to brace himself before Shippo barreled into him. "I haven't been gone that long," Inuyasha said as the fox demon hugged him.

"But it's been so boring around here, it feels like you've been gone forever," Shippo said.

"If you're so bored while they're gone, I could always give you tasks to do," Kaede said, walking up to them at a much more sedate pace, Kagome beside her.

"Erm, no thanks, it isn't that boring after all," Shippo said, scrambling up to the relative safety of Inuyasha's shoulder. Kaede smiled at Shippo's reaction, while Kagome laughed softly behind one hand.

"So, are you all ready to head out?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome nodded. "We'll see you in a few days, Kaede," she said.

Kaede waved. "Be safe, all of you."

Inuyasha waved back as they walked away, calling, "Will do!"

As they walked down the path, Kagome said, "Inuyasha, I hope you don't mind, but I've actually got a specific destination in mind this time."

"Why would I mind?" Inuyasha asked. "We're just as likely to find jewel shards in pretty much any direction."

"True enough," she said.

"So, where are we headed?" Inuyasha asked.

"To a demon slayer village," Kagome replied.

Inuyasha's head jerked over in her direction so fast that he almost knocked Shippo off his shoulder. "A demon slayer village? Kagome, you, Shippo and Myoga are _demons_. Won't they try to kill you? Why would you even want to go there?"

"I want to trade for one of their weapons," Kagome said, "as a gift for Sensei. He's taking a lot of his valuable time to train me, and I'd like to pay him back somehow. Demon slayers make weapons that are effective against demons, obviously, so I thought Sensei would like to have one incase anything ever happened in the future again, like the incident with the Noh mask."

That definitely sounded like the kind of repayment that would please Sensei. "But how are you going to trade with them when they might try to kill you on sight?"

"Most slayers only attack demons that are actively harming humans," Kagome said, "so they might not attack. But just in case Shippo, Myoga and I aren't going to go in it. We'll stay hidden outside the village, and you'll have to do the trading yourself."

"I guess that's workable," Inuyasha said. "I take it you know how to get there?"

"Kaede was able to tell me the general area the nearest slayer village is in, but she wasn't able to give me an exact location," Kagome admitted. "But that shouldn't be a problem. Once we get close enough, I'll be able to find it."

"How?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome tapped her nose. "I'll smell it. Villages tend to have pretty distinct smells."

Shippo nodded in agreement. "She's right. Villages are easy to find if you can just get close enough to them."

"Okay," Inuyasha said. "How long will it take us to get there?"

"We should be able to make it sometime on the day after tomorrow," Kagome said. That was at least two days and a night of travel then.

_Hope it doesn't rain._

Then a glaring problem with Kagome's plan jumped out at him. "Hey, what exactly are we supposed to trade them for a weapon?" Inuyasha asked.

"Well, now, that's where things get a little tricky," Myoga said. "It will depend greatly on what they want."

"And what might they want?" Inuyasha asked, glaring at the flea.

Myoga shrugged. "Who knows?"

Inuyasha sighed. "Just great."

At least the walk was pleasant. The day was warm, but their path led them through woods and the tree branches shaded them enough that the warmth stayed pleasant instead of oppressive. Though he enjoyed outdoor activities, Inuyasha wasn't much of a nature person, so he didn't know the names of the trees and plants they were wandering by, but he did appreciate the scenery. He never got views like this in Tokyo, so the change was nice.

They stopped to eat around noon. His mother had packed a special lunch for each of them in lunch box to keep it cool. Inuyasha was certain she'd have done that for every meal they would eat if there had been any way for him to keep them from spoiling. As it was, this was the last meal of hers that Inuyasha would get to enjoy for a while.

"Wow, your mom is a great cook!" Shippo said appreciatively.

"She is," Inuyasha agreed around a mouthful of food.

"You'll have a hard time finding a wife who can match this," Shippo added, and Inuyasha almost choked on his food.

"A wife?" he managed. "Whoever said I was looking for a wife?"

Shippo blinked up at him innocently. "I thought humans got married really young?"

"Maybe in this era, but not where I come from," Inuyasha said. "No way am I getting married anytime soon."

Myoga chuckled, and Inuyasha eyed him suspiciously. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, it's nothing really," Myoga said. "I was just thinking about how your definition of 'soon' is much different from a demon's. How many years would you say it will be before you marry?"

Inuyasha frowned, finding this whole conversation vaguely awkward and more than a little ridiculous. _Um, I'm fifteen now, so what's a good age to get married?_ "I don't know, maybe eight or so years?"

Myoga nodded. "As I suspected. That seems like a long time to you, but it is a fairly short amount of time for demons. After all, we live for many centuries."

"Seriously?" Inuyasha asked.

"Indeed," Myoga said. "Why, Kagome is two hundred years old, and she's still considered quite young by demon standards."

Inuyasha stared at Kagome for a moment processing this new information. She certainly didn't look like she was two hundred. Inuyasha would have guessed her to be around his own age. Kagome looked uncomfortable under his stare and snapped, "What?"

"Nothing," Inuyasha said, suddenly reminded of how rude his staring was. "Just, um, looking good for your age?"

Kagome shook her head, but she was smiling too, so she couldn't be that upset. Luckily the subject was dropped, and they were able to finish eating in peace. When they started walking, Myoga and Shippo took it upon themselves to continue educating Inuyasha about the various types of demons.

The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. They didn't come across any other travelers, and Inuyasha didn't sense any jewel shards. But despite their relaxing day, Inuyasha noticed that Kagome seemed to be getting increasingly tense. As the afternoon wore on, she talked less and less, and she seemed to be constantly on the lookout, though for the life of him Inuyasha couldn't figure out what she was watching out for. Finally, he just had to ask. "Is something out there?" he asked in a low voice so that if there was something watching them, it wouldn't realize that he'd caught on.

Kagome glanced over at him. "What? Oh, no, not that I've noticed."

"Then why are you acting so fidgety?" he asked in his normal voice. "You're putting me on edge being on the lookout like that all the time."

Kagome blushed slightly and looked away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Is something troubling you, Kagome?" Myoga asked. "It isn't like you to be so worried."

She hesitated for a moment and then said, "Let's just find a safe place to make camp, and then I'll explain."

Inuyasha was mildly surprised to hear her stress the idea of a safe place for camping. Usually just about anywhere was fine since with her superior hearing and smell, she'd notice any unwelcome visitors long before they arrived. Eventually they did find a place that Kagome dubbed safe, and went about their routine of setting up camp, which was fairly simple for them. They built a campfire, Inuyasha spread out his sleeping bag, and camp was set up. Inuyasha also filled a kettle with water and set it over the fire in order to fix some ramen for dinner.

While waiting for the water to boil, Inuyasha said, "Okay, Kagome, now what's up?"

She glanced off towards the west where the sun would soon be setting, though their view of the sunset was blocked by trees. "It's a little weird to explain, but once a month half demons have a time where they lose their demon blood and are completely human for that time."

"That's true," Myoga said, "and it is usually a closely guarded secret as that is the time is when a half demon is at their most vulnerable." He glared up at Kagome reproachfully. "But you never even told me when your time is!"

Kagome shrugged. "Like you said, it isn't really something we talk about, and you've never been with me when I became human before."

"Then tonight is your night to be human?" Shippo asked.

Kagome nodded. "Yes. Tonight is the night of the new moon, so from sunset to sunrise, I'll be completely human."

Inuyasha wasn't sure what to think about that. He was so used to Kagome as she was, he didn't know how it would feel to see her as anything different. He was saved from having to say anything by the kettle, which chose that moment to whistle and show that the water was boiling. He took it off the fire and poured it into the Styrofoam cups of noodles. Shippo went for his cup immediately, but Inuyasha pulled it out of his reach. "You have to wait and let the noodles soften," he told the fox demon.

Shippo pouted. "But I'm hungry now!"

"Waiting three minutes won't kill you," Inuyasha said. When the time was up Inuyasha gave him the cup, which Shippo accepted with a happy cry. When they finished eating Inuyasha stashed the empty cups back in his backpack, wishing there was a trashcan nearby, or that Styrofoam was safe to burn. Needing to carry them around was kind of annoying.

He was distracted from his thoughts when he felt a sudden pulse of energy from Kagome. Surprised, he looked over at her, because it was the first time he'd felt something like that from her. Her eyes were closed and her head was bowed as though she was praying, and her energy pulsed again. _It's like a heartbeat._

Then something strange happened. As he watched, Kagome seemed to go fuzzy for just a second, and Inuyasha blinked to clear his vision. When he opened his eyes, Kagome didn't look like herself anymore. Her dog ears were gone, and her silver hair had darkened to an inky black. She raised her head and blinked her eyes open and Inuyasha saw that they were no longer a brilliant shade of gold, but deep brown. In a different outfit, she could have easily fit in with any group of girls from his school. She was undeniably human.

"That's weird," Shippo said, breaking the silence.

Kagome huffed, one hand tightly gripping the hilt of Tetsusaiga. "It isn't like I ask for this to happen."

"It's only for one night, so it isn't a big deal," Inuyasha said. "Though it's kind of a pity we aren't at the slayer village tonight. You could go in with me, and they'd never know the difference."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Not until sunrise, anyway, when they'd find out that I'm a half demon."

Inuyasha decided to ignore that. He yawned and stretched. The day of travel had left him pleasantly tired. "I'm going to sleep," he said. "I'll see you three in the morning."

He settled down in his sleeping bag and wasn't all that surprised when he felt Shippo snuggling up to his side a few minutes later. Inuyasha wasn't much for sharing his bed, but seeing how Shippo had been so recently orphaned, he was willing to make an exception for now. With Shippo as a not unpleasant warmth as his side, Inuyasha drifted off to sleep.

* * *

When Inuyasha woke up in the morning he wasn't entirely sure at first what it was that had woken him. Then he felt a pulse of energy he recognized as Kagome's and realized what must be happening. He sat up causing Shippo to grumble and shift his position, and saw Kagome had changed back to her usual self. "I guess it's sunrise then?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome smiled, seeming more comfortable now than she had the night before. "It is. Are you getting up now?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "May as well; I probably couldn't go back to sleep now anyway." He shook Shippo. "Hey, it's time to get up."

Shippo swatted at his hand. "I don't want to!"

"Too bad," Inuyasha said, unceremoniously dumping him out of the sleeping bag.

"Hey!" Shippo yelped as he landed on dew covered grass. "I'll get you for that!"

"Yeah, sure," Inuyasha said as he rolled up the sleeping bag. They ate a quick breakfast and hit the road. As they traveled, Inuyasha's thoughts turned to the village they were searching for, and the potential danger it posed to Kagome, Shippo, and Myoga. _I hope it doesn't take too long to get to this slayer village. The sooner we're done there, the happier I'll be._

* * *

"Inuyasha Higurashi." Silence met her words, and Hanajima Sato looked up from her attendance book with a frown to see that Inuyasha's seat was once more empty. He'd only been back a few days, and now he was suddenly gone from school again. She marked him absent and continued calling names, but her mind was only half on her task. The rest of her mind was trying to figure out what could possibly be going on with Inuyasha.

_Inuyasha might not be my best student, but he's never skipped school like this before._ He had gotten in trouble for fighting in the past, but once bullies had seen how good Inuyasha was at that they'd done their best to steer clear of him, and he wasn't really the kind of student that caused trouble anyway. No, this absence seemed incredibly out of character for him based on everything that Hanajima knew.

_Something big must be going on._ She didn't believe for a moment that he was simply out sick with the flu. _I'll give him the weekend,_ she thought, _but if he doesn't show up on Monday, I'm going to be making a house call._

* * *

"We're close," Kagome said late into the afternoon.

"Are you sure?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome nodded. "It's a pretty distinct smell."

"How do you know it isn't just a regular village?" he asked.

Kagome glanced over at him. "Because I can smell the corpses of demons."

"Oh," Inuyasha said.

"They make their weapons out of the parts of the demons they kill," Shippo supplied. "That's why they're so effective."

"Okay then," Inuyasha said, thinking that sounded both morbid and efficient.

"Shippo, Myoga and I probably shouldn't get much closer to the village than this, just to be safe," Kagome said. "You're on your own from here. Just keep walking in that direction and you'll find them."

"How will I find you when I'm done?" Inuyasha asked.

"We'll find you," Kagome said.

"Right then," Inuyasha said. "I'm off."

He walked in the direction Kagome had pointed him in, but he couldn't spot any signs of a village. The scenery looked like more of the same, and while pretty, it was starting to get boring. Not to mention some time ago the walk had become an incline and Inuyasha was getting tired of walking up a hill that didn't seem to end. Just as he was about to decide Kagome must have been mistaken about the village being in this direction, the woods ended and he came out into a clearing. There the village was, and Inuyasha had no doubt it was the slayer village. The village was fortified by a wall made of tree trunks, and Inuyasha could just imagine how much effort that must have taken. Guards, Inuyasha didn't suppose they could be anything else, patrolled the top of the wall, and they quickly spotted him as he approached the village.

"Halt and identify yourself!" one of the guards called out.

Inuyasha stopped. The guard was holding a bow, and Inuyasha didn't doubt he could use it. "My name is Inuyasha," he called out in reply. "I'm just a travelling priest!" It was more or less the truth.

The guard didn't seem convinced. "You don't look like any priest I've ever seen," he said.

Inuyasha looked down at his T-shirt and jeans and figured the guard was probably correct. Looking back up he replied, "I'm still in training."

"Then where's your master?" the guard asked.

"Not here," Inuyasha replied shortly, getting impatient with the third degree. "Do you interrogate every visitor you have like this?"

"Can't be too careful in these times," the guard said with a shrug.

"Careful of what?" Inuyasha asked. "Even if I was evil, which I'm not, there's only one of me. It isn't like I'd pose much of a threat to your entire village!"

The guard actually laughed at that. "I suppose not! Open the gate!" he called to someone Inuyasha couldn't see. A portion of the wall swung out and up, and Inuyasha walked under it into the village where he was met by quite a few curious stares, though no one actually seemed hostile.

_Going out on a limb to guess they don't get many visitors here._

He was approached by a tall man with broad shoulders, black hair and beard, and brown eyes. He walked with an air of quiet confidence and calm that reminded Inuyasha of Sensei, and instinctively Inuyasha realized that this man must be their leader, or at the very least somewhere high up in their ranks.

"Welcome to our village," he said. "I am Hayasaka, the headman."

Inuyasha bowed politely. "I am Inuyasha, priest in training," he said.

"Unusual attire for a priest in training," Hayasaka commented.

Inuaysha sighed, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "My master is a bit…unorthodox." Or nonexistent, depending on how one looked at it. Sure Sensei was training him with his staff, but Inuyasha felt like he was mostly figuring out the spiritual power stuff by himself, though Kaede and Gramps had helped a little.

Hayasaka seemed to accept Inuyasha's words. "Come to my home, and we will discuss why you are here."

Inuyasha followed him to a decently sized house. Sitting on the porch was a teenage girl with long brown hair and brown eyes petting a cat and a boy who looked a little older than Souta that Inuyasha guessed was probably the girl's brother. The cat, Inuyasha realized, had red eyes and two tails, which meant she'd either had a run in with some radioactive waste, or she was a demon, which caught Inuyasha a little off guard.

"Inuyasha , these are my children, Sango and Kohaku," Hayasaka said. "Children, this is Inuyasha."

Sango smiled at him. "Hello, Inuyasha.

Kohaku seemed a little shyer than his sister, and when he spoke it was in a quieter voice. "Hi."

"Nice to meet you," Inuyasha said.

"Sango, get some tea for us, won't you?" Hayasaka said, as he led Inuyasha into the house.

"Yes, Father," Sango said, standing. The cat followed her as she walked away, and Inuyasha couldn't help but stare at the creature, it seemed so out of place in a village of demon slayers.

Hayasaka noticed where he was looking and said, "That's Kirara. She's been with my family since my father's time."

"Oh," Inuyasha said. "She's a demon right?"

Hayasaka nodded as he sat down and motioned for Inuyasha to sit as well. "She is. I suppose it must seem strange to you that she lives here when we are demon slayers."

"A little," Inuyasha admitted.

"An important lesson to be learned is that while demons are all dangerous in some way, not all of them are evil," Hayasaka said gravely.

"I know that," Inuyasha said. "I've just never dealt with demon slayers before, so I wasn't sure if you did."

Hayasaka seemed surprised at his words. "You've dealt with friendly demons, have you?"

"Several," Inuyasha said. "I'm actually traveling with some right now. If we'd known you were willing to be friendly with demons, they'd have come here with me."

"You're traveling with demons?"

Inuyasha started a little at Kohaku's voice. The kid was so quiet, Inuyasha hadn't noticed that he'd followed them into the house. "Yeah," Inuyasha said. "A half demon, a fox demon, and a flea demon."

"Strange companions," Hayasaka said. "You are full of surprises, young man."

Inuyasha shrugged. "It's been a strange few weeks for me."

Sango entered with the tea then, still accompanied by Kirara, and kneeling down beside them she handed out the cups of steaming liquid which Inuyasha accepted gratefully. When she had finished passing out the drinks, Hayasaka asked, "What brings you to our village, Inuyasha?"

"I was hoping to trade for a weapon," Inuyasha said.

"You seem to already have one," Hayasaka said, glancing down at the staff Inuyasha had laid on the floor when he had sat down.

"I don't want it for me," Inuyasha said. "I want it for a friend. He's a skilled fighter, but he doesn't have a weapon that's actually capable of killing demons."

"Why didn't he come himself?" Hayasaka asked.

"He kind of doesn't know I'm here," Inuyasha said. "The weapon is supposed to be a gift."

"I see," Hayasaka said. "What kind of weapon are you looking for?"

Inuyasha frowned. He hadn't really thought about what kind of weapon to get for Sensei. He knew how to use swords and staves obviously, and Inuyasha had seen other weapons in that armory room he'd shown Inuyasha. But Inuyasha wasn't really sure what Sensei's preferred weapon was.

"What kind of weapons do you have?" Inuyasha asked.

Hayasaka smiled. "Kids, would you like to show him?"

Sango quickly stood, and Inuyasha was somewhat unnerved by the way she smiled. "Sure thing, Father. Come with us, Inuyasha."

Standing, Inuyasha followed the siblings outside. They followed the porch around the side of the house where Inuyasha saw what looked like a gigantic boomerang leaning against the wall. The thing was easily the size of an actual person. "What is that?" Inuyasha asked.

Sango grinned as she hefted the weapon with surprising ease. A weapon that size had to weigh a lot. "This is my hiraikotsu."

"How do you use it?" Inuyasha asked dubiously.

Sango hopped off of the porch so she'd have room. "Like this!" Sango threw the weapon, and the hiraikotsu flew through the air and up into the sky much farther than he would have expected it to, and like a boomerang it eventually turned and came back. Sango caught it with practiced ease, and Inuyasha knew she must have been training with it for years.

_She's a lot scarier than she looks._

Inuyasha figured Sensei would probably love one of those things, but if he was supposed to be able to make use of a weapon in the future, something like the hiraikotsu would be no good. It was way too conspicuous.

"That's pretty cool," Inuyasha said, "but I think something a bit less noticeable would be better for my friend." He glanced over and saw Kohaku holding a chain and sickle. "You any good with that thing?" Inuyasha asked him.

Kohaku looked down shyly. "I'm okay with it."

Sango scoffed. "Okay? Kohaku, you're great with that! Come on, show Inuyasha what you can do!"

Kohaku obligingly hopped off the porch while Sango placed some cracked pottery on several posts out in the yard. Sango moved out of the way, and Kohaku swung the sickle with unerring accuracy, smashing clean through all of the pottery. Kohaku caught the weapon easily as it swung back toward him.

"Sango's right, you are good with that," Inuyasha said, genuinely impressed with Kohaku's skill. The boy smiled up at him.

Sango tossed and arm around Kohaku's shoulders. "He really is," she said. "Pretty soon he'll be coming out with us on missions."

Inuyasha did a double take at her words. "But he's just a kid!" Inuyasha said before he could think about whether or not his words might be offensive.

Sango's smile dipped and she raised her chin in challenge. "So? He's well trained, and all of us start going on missions at eleven. Besides, it isn't like we'd send him out by himself yet. He'll always go with a more senior slayer for the first few years."

"No offence meant," Inuyasha said, realizing belatedly that his comments might not be appreciated. But even if it was their custom, Inuyasha couldn't help but think that sending out kids to fight demons could only end badly.

Sango seemed to take Inuyasha's apology. "Come on," she said. "We'll show you what else we have."

They led him to another building, and it took Inuyasha a moment to realize it was a smithy. Inside the building, the siblings showed him a number of weapons, including swords, bows and arrows, spears, even a mace. But even with the large variety of weapons, in the end Inuyasha decided to go with a sword, reasoning that even with Sensei's large collection, when Inuyasha had asked for help, a sword was what the man had gone for.

"What would you take for a sword?" Inuyasha asked.

"That's a question for our father," Sango said. "But if you know that's what you want we can head back and ask him."

Inuyasha followed them back to the house where Hayasaka was waiting for them. "Did you find something to your liking?" he asked.

"You have some pretty amazing weapons," Inuyasha said, "but I think a sword will work best for my friend."

Hayasaka nodded. "A simple but elegant weapon."

"So, what would you like for one?" Inuyasha asked, hoping the man didn't ask for money since he didn't have any.

Hayasaka considered for a moment, and then said, "Tell us the story of how you came to be travelling with a half demon, flea demon, and fox demon, and I will consider that repayment enough for the sword."

"You might not believe that story," Inuyasha said.

Hayasaka just smiled. "An unbelievable tale will be all the more entertaining."

So Inuyasha sat and told the three of them his story, though somewhat abbreviated. As proof of his words, he even pulled the jar of jewel shards out of his pocket and showed it to them. His audience was quite caught up in the story, and didn't interrupt him except to ask a few clarifying questions.

"That was more fantastical than I expected," Hayasaka admitted when Inuyasha was finished. "But I believe you."

"You do?" Inuyasha asked. He'd expected to be called a liar, not to be believed.

Hayasaka nodded. "After all, it was my father who gave Kikyo the Shikon Jewel more than fifty years ago in order to keep it safe and pure."

"Seriously?" Inuyasha asked.

"Indeed," Hayasaka said. "For you see, the jewel originated here, at our village."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. "It did? How?"

Hayasaka crossed his arms as he told his story. "Many centuries ago there was a powerful priestess named Midoriko. It was said that she was so powerful she could purify twenty demons with one swing of her sword. Because of her power, Midoriko was greatly hated and feared by demons, and eventually they attacked her by the hundreds in an attempt to kill her. When they attacked her they combined into one creature of great power, and Midoriko battled it for seven days and nights. At the end, Midoriko was about to be devoured by the creature. In one last desperate attempt to defeat it, she dragged the creature's soul inside of herself. When she did, the Shikon Jewel burst forth from her body, and the creature and Midoriko both perished."

"Wow," Inuyasha said, at a loss for any other words. He wouldn't have guessed that the origin of the jewel was something so tragic. But then, Kaede had told him how everything seemed to go wrong with the jewel, and its tragic origin sort of made sense.

"Well then," Hayasaka said. "It's just about time for dinner. Why don't you and Kohaku go and collect your friends, and all of you can stay here tonight."

"Thank you," Inuyasha said, "I really appreciate it."

"You are most welcome," Hayasaka said.

Inuyasha and Kohaku left then. When they made it to the gate, Kohaku called for the guards to open it.

"A bit late to be going out, Kohaku," the guard said.

"We won't be long," Kohaku told him. "And we'll be coming back with some others."

They opened the gate and Kohaku and Inuyasha headed out towards the woods. "Where are your friends waiting for you?" Kohaku asked.

"I'm not exactly sure," Inuyasha admitted. "Kagome said they'd find me, so I don't think they're too far." Raising his voice, Inuyasha called, "Hey, Kagome! Where are you guys at?"

She dropped down from above them with Shippo and Myoga on her shoulders, startling them both. "Geez, Kagome, a little warning next time!" Inuyasha snapped.

"Sorry," Kagome said, though Inuyasha got the feeling the apology was directed more at Kohaku than himself.

"Everyone, this is Kohaku," Inuyasha said. "Kohaku, this is Kagome, Shippo, and Myoga."

"Hello," Kohaku said softly.

"Hi!" Shippo said cheerfully.

"It's nice to meet you," Kagome added.

"His father is the village headman," Inuyasha said, "and he's invited us to spend the night at their house."

"A most gracious offer," Myoga said.

They returned to the slayer village. If the guards were surprised that their extra guests weren't human, then they didn't say anything. By the time they made it back to Kohaku's house, dinner was ready and waiting for them.

"Thank you for allowing us to stay in your home," Kagome said to Hayasaka when they were introduced.

"It is my pleasure and honor to assist Inuyasha in his mission," Hayasaka said. "I consider anyone helping him to collect the jewel to be a friend." He turned his gaze to Inuyasha. "Speaking of collecting the jewel, Sango and I have been talking of how we might do more for you. Collecting the jewel shards is of the utmost importance, but it will be a hard and dangerous task. To that end, I would like to send Sango with you, so she may assist you in any way you might need."

"Oh, um, thank you," Inuyasha said, trying hard not to insult Hayasaka. "But I wouldn't want to pull her away from all of you like that. I don't have any idea how long this mission is going to take."

"That doesn't matter," Sango said. "It's my duty as a demon slayer to protect people. As long as shards of the Shikon Jewel are out there, a lot of people are in danger from those who would misuse it. I wouldn't be doing my duty if I didn't come with you."

There didn't seem to be a way to tell her no without becoming offensive at that point. "Then thanks," he said. "I'm sure you'll be very helpful."

Sango smiled, radiating a well-earned confidence. "I plan to be."


	13. Chapter 13

Kikyo's Stolen Ashes

They left the slayer village fairly early in the morning. Inuyasha carried the sword meant for Sensei, and Sango joined them with Kirara after saying goodbye to her father and brother. Inuyasha noticed how Kohaku looked downcast and worried, and figured the boy was probably wondering when he'd see his sister again. Inuyasha kind of wondered that himself; collecting the jewel shards was sure to take a while, and who knew how long Sango would be with them?

_Well, it isn't like she'll never be able to come back and visit,_ Inuyasha thought. Actually, he wouldn't mind returning to visit himself. Given their career field, Inuyasha was sure there was a lot about fighting that he could learn from them, and he was curious to see how he might measure up in a fight against them, though there had been no time to check something like that out over this visit.

"So," Sango said after they started out. "Where are we headed now?"

"Back home, I guess, so we can drop off this sword," Inuyasha said.

"We're going back a different way than we came, though," Kagome put in. "Since Inuyasha didn't sense any jewel shards on our first route, he might sense some if we go a different way."

"It's a pity there isn't a more efficient way to locate the shards," Sango said. "Just wandering around and hoping to stumble across them could take months or more."

Inuyasha shrugged. "Unfortunately, we don't have a better method. This is pretty much all we can do."

"Could you sense the jewel shards just as well from the air?" Sango asked.

"I don't see why not," Inuyasha said, "but since I can't fly it's kind of a moot point."

Sango smiled, a small light of mischief dancing in her eyes. "You might not be able to fly, but Kirara can."

They all looked down at the dainty little cat who stared back up at them and mewed softly.

"Sorry, Sango, but I'm not seeing how that helps," Kagome said.

Sango chuckled. "Show them, Kirara."

Inuyasha didn't really have a chance to think about how Sango had just addressed her demon cat as if she was as intelligent as a person, because as soon as Sango finished speaking flames sprouted around Kirara swelling in size until the fireball was slightly bigger than a horse. Just as suddenly as they had appeared the flames died and a transformed Kirara stood in front of them. She was large enough now to easily carry two people, maybe three in a pinch. Fangs like those of a saber tooth tiger curled down her jaw, and her red gaze seemed much more intimidating at this size.

"That's awesome!" Shippo said, summing up Inuyasha's thoughts on the matter quite nicely.

Sango placed a hand on Kirara's shoulder and smiled. "Kirara's ability to transform like this has gotten me out of more than one scrape before. Obviously she won't be able to fly us all the time; even she gets tired, but she can help us travel quicker when we have a specific destination in mind."

"How many people can she carry?" Kagome asked.

"Comfortably, she can carry two adults," Sango said. "If she has to she can handle more than that, but only for short distances. I thought Inuyasha, Shippo and I could ride her. Kagome, you'll be able to keep up with her, won't you?"

Kagome nodded. "That shouldn't be a problem."

Sango swung herself up on Kirara's back with practiced ease and Shippo eagerly joined her. Inuyasha walked over to them, but he couldn't help but hesitate for a moment. Sango had said Kirara could comfortably carry two adults, and she certainly looked it, but Inuyasha still worried for a moment that he might accidentally hurt her.

"Don't worry about hurting her accidentally," Sango said. "Kirara isn't likely to let you."

Inuyasha glanced at the cat demon's face and found her watching him with an uncannily intelligent expression that seemed to agree with Sango's words. Placing his hands on Kirara's back, Inuyasha swung himself up behind Sango. He wrapped one arm around Sango's waist to make sure he didn't go flying off and positioned his other to make sure his staff wouldn't get in Kirara's way as she flew. Normally sitting like so close to Sango like this would have been somewhat awkward for Inuyasha, but Sango had her hiraikotsu slung across her back and between the two of them, so it didn't feel like he was actually in her personal space.

"We'll be following you, Kagome, since you're the one who knows where we're going," Sango said.

Kagome nodded. "Then let's go." She took off running and Inuyasha admired the grace of her movements. He didn't have the chance to watch her for long though, because Kirara jumped and took off through the air.

Riding Kirara was unlike anything Inuyasha had ever experienced. She moved through the air as though she was running, so in a way it felt similar to what Inuyasha imagined riding a horse would feel like. But of course since they were going through the air and Kirara's feet weren't touching the ground, there was never any sort of hard jolt, just a sort of swaying as he kept his balance on her back.

The view was spectacular. It was a clear day, so Inuyasha could see for miles. The forest rolled out underneath them, a rich carpet of dark green, broken here and there by lighter green clearings. He could see a river that wound through the forest like a silver snake, and continued on through plains once the forest ended. He spotted a village or two as well, and in the far distance he could actually make out mountains.

"Wow," was all Inuyasha could say.

"I know," Sango said. "The view is one of the reasons I love flying with Kirara."

Looking down again, Inuyasha easily spotted Kagome because she had taken to the trees to make herself more visible to them. As he watched her leap from tree to tree, it suddenly occurred to him with a twinge of guilt that they'd left her completely alone.

_Well, not completely,_ he amended. _Myoga is with her. Besides, this is the quickest way to travel._ Though they probably could have traveled just as quickly with Kagome carrying one of them on her back, but Inuyasha cringed at the idea of being carried by her again. It was just too embarrassing to be carried by a girl, and he wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

Inuyasha was no expert judge of distance, but by the time they landed for lunch he figured they had traveled nearly the same distance that morning as they had traveled in a day previously.

"Will Kirara be alright to keep flying all of you this afternoon?" Kagome asked.

Sango shook her head. "No. She could fly one person around all day with no problem but I'd rather not push her to exhaustion unless it's completely unavoidable."

"Of course," Kagome said. "She's already saved us quite a bit of time. We probably won't make it back to the village before dark, but we should get there first thing in the morning."

Sango had packed them a lunch from her village, so they didn't need to cook anything for their meal. Inuyasha still built a fire though so they could have tea with their lunch while Shippo filled the tea kettle with water from the river.

"What are those?" Sango asked when Inuyasha used a match to get the fire going.

"Matches," he said. "They're an invention from my time."

"Convenient," Sango said. "How do they work?"

"I have no idea," Inuyasha admitted as he took the now full tea kettle back from Shippo and set it over the fire to boil.

"What's your time like?" Sango asked.

"Very different from now," Kagome answered, which startled Inuyasha a bit. "The whole place seems to be one giant city. There are no forests anymore, and many of the buildings are taller than trees."

"There are still forests," Inuyasha protested. "Just not really inside Tokyo, which is the only city you've been to in the future."

Kagome went on as if he hadn't spoken. "And I've never seen so many humans in my life. There must be thousands of them in that one city."

"Millions, actually," Inuyasha corrected.

"Humans become that populous?" Myoga asked, sounding as shocked as Shippo and Sango looked.

"What about demons?" Shippo added in.

"Well," Kagome said, "there was the Noh mask with the jewel shard, and we saw a tatarimoke, but other than that I haven't noticed any demons. It seems like they're mostly gone in the future."

"But how could demons just be gone?" Shippo asked turning to Inuyasha. "That doesn't make any sense!"

Inuyasha shrugged. "Heck if I know. But in my time, most people don't think demons were ever real. They think demons are just made up stories. Matter of fact, before I came back in time, I thought the same thing."

"So something must happen between now and your time to either wipe out demons," Sango said, "or demons will become much better at hiding themselves from humans, though why they'd ever feel the need to I don't understand."

"Perhaps," Myoga said, "it has to do with the numbers humans will reach. After all, humans and demons rarely get along well, and if there are millions of humans living in just one city…There comes a point where it doesn't matter if humans are weaker than demons. A large enough number of them could kill any demon, most likely."

"So you think demons are hiding out in my time to avoid being killed by humans?" Inuyasha asked.

"It is possible," Myoga said. "And frankly I prefer this theory to thinking that most demons are dead in the future."

Inuyasha fell silent at that, realizing just why Myoga preferred it. After all, if all the demons were dead in five hundred years, that included Myoga, Shippo, Kirara, and Kagome. In their shoes, Inuyasha would probably prefer to think they were just hiding out as well.

"Wait," he said as a new thought occurred to him, "if there are demons in the future, will they come after the jewel shards while I'm there?"

"Perhaps," Myoga said, "but I doubt it. They probably aren't expecting the jewel to be there, and if they're trying to keep a low profile I doubt they want it."

Maybe they weren't expecting the jewel shard to be there, but if there were any demons living in Tokyo in the future, they had to know something weird was going on after the Noh mask incident. That mess had been in the news for days, not that the reporters or police had really understood what had happened. All they knew was that someone had stolen a fire truck and gone on a rampage, and over fifty people had gone missing in the process. Inuyasha knew those people had been devoured by the Noh mask, but the cops didn't, and would never find out. Any demons living in Tokyo wouldn't know the exact cause either, but they'd know there was no way a human could have done that.

_If there are demons in the future, I really hope they don't decide to investigate that._ Because if they investigated, there was a good chance they'd end up at the Higurashi Shrine since that was where the fire truck had been stolen in the first place, and if that happened there was a chance they could discover that Inuyasha had jewel shards. Maybe they wouldn't want the shards, but then, maybe they would, and Inuyasha did not want to have to fight demons in the future where there was a much higher chance of innocent people getting hurt.

The kettle started whistling, so Inuyasha pulled it off the fire and dumped some teabags inside. Sango divvied out the lunch food, and by the time she was done with that the tea was ready to pour. All in all, it was a pleasant lunch. When they finished Kagome put out the fire while Inuyasha rinsed out the tea kettle and cups they used, and struggled to get it all to fit back in his bag.

"How does Mom manage to get it all in here so easily?" he grumbled as he struggled to close his backpack. He finally did manage it and swung the bag over his shoulders once more.

Once they started walking, Myoga said, "Inuyasha, perhaps we should use this time to continue your lessons. Sango, I think you can help us add to them nicely."

"What sort of lessons?" Sango asked.

"Lessons about demons," Shippo said. "Since Inuyasha never knew we existed growing up, he doesn't know much of anything about us, which could be bad since he's probably going to have to fight a lot of demons searching for the jewel shards."

Not, Inuyasha thought despairingly, that he'd caught even so much as a glimmer of a jewel shard on this trip. It was really frustrating; he'd kind of expected to find jewel shards every time he came to the past, but it was beginning to look as though that wouldn't be the case after all.

Sango did prove to be a wealth of information about demons as well, even though her information mostly dealt with their strengths and weaknesses, and she knew most about the weaker types of demons.

"The most dangerous demons," she told him, "are the ones that can look like humans. Those are the most powerful type, and they're a lot harder to predict."

Inuyasha thought about Sesshomaru and how powerful he'd seemed. He'd been able to move so quickly that it seemed as if he teleported from place to place, and as much as Inuyasha hated to think it, he was pretty sure that in an all out fight between Sesshomaru and Kagome, Sesshomaru would end up winning.

_Doesn't help that Kagome isn't even willing to properly fight him, since they're siblings._ On the one hand Inuyasha could kind of understand that sentiment. Certainly he could never bring himself to try and hurt Souta. On the other hand, Souta wasn't actively trying to kill him, and Inuyasha couldn't imagine him ever doing so. Even if Kagome saw Sesshomaru as her brother, Sesshomaru clearly didn't share that sentiment when it came to Kagome.

_Hopefully we'll just never run into him again,_ Inuyasha thought. _And if we do, he's wearing the beads that Kaede gave me, so I can just sit him._

The memory of Sesshomaru face planting into the ground made Inuyasha smile. That had been such a satisfying moment.

They camped out by the river that evening, and even though Inuyasha knew it was going to be cold, he determined to take a bath that night. He'd been without one for several days now and enough was enough. He waited until after dinner and then told the others he was going for a bath.

"Can I come with you?" Shippo asked eagerly.

"Sure," Inuyasha said, having no reason to mind Shippo's company. Shippo jumped onto Inuyasha's shoulder and he gathered together his body wash and last clean shirt; dirty jeans he was just going to have to put up with. Inuyasha and Shippo followed the river until they were out of sight of the camp.

Inuyasha stripped down and waded out into the river until it was up to his waist, hissing from the cold water. The riverbed was a mixture of pebbles and slippery sand that made footing somewhat treacherous, but not unmanageable. Shippo splashed and swam about while Inuyasha scrubbed down, apparently immune to the river's temperature.

"Baths are so much fun," the kitsune said. "Mom, Dad and I used to take baths together, and it was always great."

Inuyasha glanced over at Shippo and noticed the way he faltered for a moment after mentioning his parents. Understanding the pain that Shippo undoubtedly felt, Inuyasha spoke quickly to fill the silence. "They'd be more fun in a hot spring instead of a river. The water's too cold to really enjoy in a river."

"It isn't that cold," Shippo protested, taking up the new topic as quickly as Inuyasha had thought he would.

"Maybe not to you," Inuyasha said. "But I'm human. I guess demons aren't as affected by temperature as humans are."

"I guess not," Shippo said. "Maybe next time we travel we can look for a hot spring to camp near."

"That'd be nice," Inuyasha said. Having finished washing and tired of the river's cold, Inuyasha waded out. Shippo splashed about a little more, but soon followed him to the riverbank and dressed.

They walked back to the camp and settled down by the fire to help their hair dry before going to sleep. Kagome moved so she was sitting beside Shippo and began to work her fingers through his thick hair to untangle it. Inuyasha half expected Shippo to protest the motherly treatment, he certainly would have as a kid, but to his surprise Shippo just closed his eyes with an expression akin to delight on his face as Kagome tended to him.

_Maybe it's because he's missing his parents,_ Inuyasha mused. Whatever the reason, Shippo seemed happy and Inuyasha saw no reason to comment on the action.

By the time Inuyasha's hair was mostly dry he was ready for sleep, so he unrolled his sleeping bag and settled down and Shippo joined him as was beginning to seem like the norm for their travels. Sango slept leaning back against a large sized Kirara, and Kagome took to a tree as usual. Pleasantly tired, Inuyasha drifted off into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

* * *

The first thing that Inuyasha noticed when he woke in the morning was that Kagome seemed unusually agitated. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"I'm not sure," Kagome said. "Last night I saw an ogress in the distance that smelled of graveyard soil and blood. She was coming from the direction of the village. It might be coincidence, but if it isn't…"

She trailed off staring in the direction of the village, a frown creasing her face.

"Then we'd better get there quickly to check," Sango said crisply. "We should fly on Kirara again, in case something bad has happened."

They ate a quick, cold breakfast and then loaded up on Kirara. The flight that morning wasn't as pleasant as the one the afternoon before, not when everyone was worried that they might be flying toward a tragedy. They arrived at the village while it was still early morning, and they could tell something had happened because of the unusual number of villagers milling about and what looked like a small crater near the village shrine.

Kirara landed just outside the largest group of villagers. The villagers eyed Sango and Kirara suspiciously, but luckily didn't make any hostile advances, which wouldn't have really surprised Inuyasha given the tense atmosphere. The crowd parted to let them through to Kaede; Kagome was already with her.

"Kaede, what happened?" Inuyasha demanded when he saw that her right arm was in a sling and her head was bandaged.

"Grave trouble has come upon us," Kaede said. "But who are your new companions?"

"Oh, this is Sango, the demon slayer, and her companion, Kirara," Inuyasha said. "Sango, this is the priestess Kaede."

"It's an honor to meet you," Sango said.

Kaede nodded. "I only wish it could be under more pleasant circumstances."

"Seriously, though, what happened?" Inuyasha asked.

Kaede began walking toward the steps that led up to the shrine. "Come, and I will show you."

Kagome stayed by the old woman's side as they went up the steps. "Are you sure you should be moving around so much? Maybe you should rest and give your injuries a chance to heal."

"I'm afraid there is no time for that right now," Kaede said. "Besides they are only flesh wounds; I will recover in due time."

Inuyasha had to hand it to the old woman. She was tough, if nothing else. Or maybe just stubborn.

They made it to the top of the steps and got a close up view of the crater they'd seen from the air. "This was the resting place of my sister, Kikyo," Kaede said. "Last night an ogress named Urasue came and stole her ashes." Kaede sighed heavily. "I was helpless to stop her."

Inuyasha frowned. He could see how having a family member's remains stolen would be upsetting, but he couldn't see why it was as terrible as Kaede seemed to believe it was. "What would Urasue want with Kikyo's ashes?" Inuyasha asked.

"I do not know," Kaede said. "But my sister was an uncommonly powerful priestess. With the correct dark spells, any number of unspeakable things could be done with her remains. We must retrieve them from Urasue before she can misuse them."

_Dark spells? As in, magic?_ _Then again, I guess I shouldn't really be surprised. After all, if demons exist, why not magic too? Besides, what are my abilities other than magical, even if I haven't really thought of them as magic?_

"I can find Urasue," Kagome said. "I've got her scent, so she shouldn't be hard to track down. I'll get Kikyo's remains back."

Looking at Kagome, Inuyasha was mildly alarmed to see how hard her golden eyes were. He'd never seen such a hard, angry expression on her face before, and it didn't seem like it belonged there at all.

"I'm coming too," Inuyasha volunteered, unwilling to let Kagome head into danger alone.

"Kirara and I will come as well," Sango said. "You'll probably end up needing our help."

"You aren't leaving me behind!" Shippo proclaimed.

"And I will come as well," Kaede said.

"Kaede, I'm not sure that's a good idea," Kagome said.

Kaede glared at her with her one good eye. "Kikyo is my sister, and her remains are my responsibility. You will not stop me from coming, Kagome."

Kagome held her gaze for a moment and then sighed. "No, I guess I won't."

"Then we'd best get going," Kaede said. "Who knows how far Urasue's lair may be from here?"

It was decided that the easiest way to travel would be for Kaede to go by horse, Kagome on foot, and Sango, Inuyasha and Shippo would ride Kirara again. If Urasue's lair was far enough away that Kirara couldn't carry them the whole time, one of them would ride piggyback with Kagome for a while to give Kirara a break.

This decided, they left the village following Kagome, who was presumably following Urasue's trail. They traveled for several hours before taking a break for a quick lunch.

"Do you think we'll arrive at Urasue's lair soon?" Sango asked as they ate, and Inuyasha knew what she was getting at. If both of them kept flying on Kirara she was going to get worn out and be of no use when the time came for the inevitable fight with Urasue.

Kagome shook her head. "Her trail seems to go for a ways. I don't think we'll get there today. I guess that means one of you will need to be with me for a while."

Sango and Inuyasha glanced at each other, both hesitating. Inuyasha really didn't want to be carried by a girl, but he could easily guess that Sango didn't want to leave Kirara alone with him and Shippo, and he couldn't quite blame her for that.

"I guess I'll go with you," Inuyasha said.

Kagome nodded, and they finished eating quickly. While the others got settled onto their mounts, Kagome knelt down so Inuyasha could climb on her back. Inuyasha hadn't thought that riding piggy back with her could possibly be more awkward than it had been before, but this time he was consciously aware of the curve of her waist and hips, and the way she hooked her hands under his thighs to keep him in place. He could feel his face burning at all this close contact with her, and his only consolation was that she couldn't see him blush.

_I just hope the others are too busy to notice…Wait, wasn't Myoga with Kagome?_

Inuyasha glanced down, and sure enough, the flea demon was on her shoulder staring up at him with a smug, knowing sort of expression. Inuyasha glared at him. _If he says one word, I swear I'm going to bring bug spray back here and kill him._

Luckily Myoga didn't say anything, and Kagome took off running being none the wiser. As she ran, Inuyasha spoke, partially to distract himself from the way her movement felt. "So, Myoga, you know random stuff. Have you ever heard of this Urasue person?"

Myoga shook his head. "I'm afraid I haven't which may or may not mean anything. It's probably safest to assume she's very dangerous."

"Great," Inuyasha grumbled. "That's just great."

"It doesn't matter how dangerous she is, we're going to get Kikyo's remains back," Kagome said, determination in every word.

Inuyasha fell silent. Kagome hadn't mentioned Kikyo much, but he did remember her saying that Kikyo had been a close friend. _Probably her only friend then,_ Inuyasha thought, considering how everyone else tended to treat her since she was a half demon.

"You and Kikyo were really close?" Inuyasha ventured.

Kagome was silent so long that Inuyasha was starting to think that she wasn't going to answer at all, but she finally said, "Kikyo was like a sister to me."

_But then someone attacked Kikyo and the village while pretending to be Kagome, so Kikyo ended up pinning the real Kagome to the tree for fifty years._ Inuyasha frowned. _Poor Kagome. She would have had no idea why Kikyo suddenly attacked her. It would have come totally out of the blue and must have seemed like a huge betrayal at the time._

_But I wonder how they even became friends in the first place? Kikyo's job was to protect the jewel, and Kagome wanted it for herself, though she's never told me why. How did their relationship even start? I would have thought they'd have been enemies._

Inuyasha knew he was treading on a sensitive topic, but he couldn't resist his curiosity. "How did you two become friends?" he asked. "I mean, you wanted to take the jewel, and she was supposed to keep it, so how did that work out?"

"I did try to take the jewel from her originally," Kagome admitted. "Kikyo stopped me every time I tried, but she never killed me."

Inuyasha felt just a little awed when he realized the amount of skill this statement implied for Kikyo. To be powerful enough to stop Kagome without having to kill her was…wow.

_Am I supposed to have that kind of power too, since I'm her reincarnation?_

"One day I finally asked her why she didn't just kill me since it was plain that she could," Kagome said, continuing with her story. "She said it was because we were too alike."

"How were you two alike?" Inuyasha asked.

"I didn't understand it either, at first," Kagome said. "But then I started watching the village and I figured out what she meant. The villagers revered Kikyo as something more than human because of her duties. They set her apart on a pedestal, and would have done anything for her except treat her like a normal person. As a half demon, I don't belong to the world of demons or humans, and as the guardian of the Shikon Jewel, neither did Kikyo. The only place where we were treated like real people was with each other."

Inuyasha was quiet as he absorbed all that information. He'd known that Kagome's life had been lonely, but he would never have guessed that of Kikyo's. _Not belonging anywhere must be really terrible._ That thought gave Inuyasha a sudden idea about why Kagome may have wanted the jewel.

"Kagome," he said, "did you want the jewel so you could become a full demon?"

Kagome's step didn't falter, but he felt her muscles tense up beneath him. "Yes," she said softly. "If I could become a demon, I might be accepted."

_Accepted by whom?_

And then it hit him, like an arrow between the eyes, and he should have seen this coming from a mile away, he should have, but it just didn't make _sense_.

"By Sesshomaru?" Inuyasha asked, incredulous. "Kagome, are you insane? The bastard tried to kill you, why would you want to be accepted by him of all people?"

Kagome suddenly stopped moving and let go of him. Not having expected to lose her support, Inuyasha tumbled painfully to the ground in an undignified heap. Kagome didn't look at him at all, but tilted her head back to where Kirara was flying in the air above them. "Sango, can Kirara take Inuyasha too? If not, you two need to switch."

Sango glanced between the two of them, but only said, "It won't be much longer before we need to make camp, so Kirara can take him."

"Good," Kagome said, and started off again, leaving Inuyasha on the ground.

Kirara landed and Sango helped Inuyasha swing up onto her back. "What did you do to make Kagome so mad?" Shippo asked.

"Nothing!" Inuyasha protested.

Shippo and Sango both sent him doubtful looks.

Inuyasha heaved a sigh. "She has a half brother, Sesshomaru. You two haven't met him, and if you're lucky you won't ever have to. He hates Kagome because she's a half demon and even tried to kill her, and she wants the Shikon Jewel so she can become a full demon so that he'll finally accept her. I just told her that was a stupid idea since the bastard wants her dead."

Sango groaned. "You didn't."

"What?" Inuyasha asked. "It's the truth!"

"Maybe so," Sango said, "but he's the only family she has, right?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha agreed.

"So, you just told her it was stupid of her to hope that the only family she has might one day love her," Sango said.

Inuyasha felt the first pricks of guilt and was not pleased. "Okay, well it sounds bad when you put it like that."

"It sounds bad no matter how you say it," Shippo put in, and Inuyasha glared at him.

"Well it is stupid," Inuyasha muttered. "Someone like Sesshomaru is never going to change his mind."

"Maybe not," Sango said. "But could you give up on your family?"

Inuyasha considered that. He couldn't really imagine his own family turning on him the way Sesshomaru had turned on Kagome, and imagining being Sesshomaru's brother was just as difficult. "I think once he tried to kill me I'd get the message that he didn't want me around," Inuyasha said.

"I guess Kagome doesn't give up on people that easily," Sango said, "and I think that's an admirable trait."

Maybe it was. But it was still stupid too.

They stopped for the night in the shelter of a cliff. The terrain had gotten increasingly hilly as they traveled, and Inuyasha was secretly glad he didn't have to walk it.

"Everyone should get plenty of rest tonight," Kagome said. "We'll make it to Urasue's lair tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Kaede asked.

Kagome nodded. "I can smell it pretty strongly now. We'll have a fight on our hands tomorrow."

"We'll be ready for it," Sango said with confidence. "We'll get Kikyo's remains back."

Inuyasha didn't say anything because he didn't really want to bring the group down with pessimistic words or risk making Kagome angrier at him than she already was. But by the time they would arrive at Urasue's lair tomorrow, the ogress would have had Kikyo's remains for more than twenty four hours. What if that was enough time for whatever spell she was planning?

What if they were already too late?


	14. Chapter 14

Return of the Tragic Priestess, Kikyo

Inuyasha eyed the clay mummy looking things that were scattered around the area and said, "I'm going out on a limb and saying we're probably really close to her lair now."

The group had risen with the dawn to continue traveling. Kagome still wasn't talking to Inuyasha, but that hadn't been a problem because as they were so close to Urasue's lair they had elected to walk, except for Kaede of course. Now, roughly two hours later as far as Inuyasha could tell, they were finally entering Urasue's territory.

"What are they?" Shippo asked from his perch on Inuyasha's shoulder.

"Probably not good for us," Sango said, shifting her grip on her hiraikotsu. Sango had taken time that morning to change into her slayer armor, and even if some parts of it were hot pink, Inuyasha thought she looked plenty ready for a fight.

The path they followed led to a deep gorge with a river flowing at the bottom. A rickety looking rope and wood slat bridge had been constructed at some point in time and looked to be the only means of crossing the gorge. "That doesn't look too sturdy," Inuyasha commented while eyeing the structure.

"No need to be afraid, Inuyasha," Myoga said. "Kirara can fly, so if the bridge snaps she should have time to save you before you fall to your death."

Inuyasha glared at the flea. "I'm not scared crossing a stupid bridge!"

Kaede dismounted her horse and tied the reins to a tree. "That bridge will not support the weight of a horse. I will have to walk the rest of the way."

They crossed the bridge single file with Kagome taking the lead, followed by Inuyasha, Kaede in the middle with Shippo on her uninjured shoulder, and Sango brought up the rear with Kirara. Kagome stopped when they were roughly halfway across.

"What's going on?" Inuyasha asked while peering over her shoulder.

"Some of those things from the woods are at the end of the bridge," Kagome said.

"But how could they have gotten there?" Kaede asked.

There was a sharp cracking noise as the mummy things broke open, revealing what looked like clay soldiers inside. Slowly and with awkward steps, the soldiers began to move toward them.

"There are more behind us!" Sango called from the back of the line.

Then unless they could fly out of there, there was no escape, and while some of them could make it out on Kirara, she couldn't carry all of them.

"We'll just have to fight our way through then," Kagome said, and she rushed the soldiers in front as the rope bridge swayed from side to side under the impact of her movements. It only took one swipe of Kagome's claws to shatter the clay soldiers into useless pieces. Looking back, Inuyasha saw that Sango was handling the soldiers that had followed them with similar ease with her hiraikotsu. The problem though was the number of clay soldiers; for every one destroyed, two more were ready to take its place and though the soldiers weren't all that strong they didn't tire. Eventually the group would be overwhelmed by the sheer number of clay soldiers.

"You can't keep this up forever," Kaede called out, apparently reaching the same conclusion as Inuyasha.

"Take Kirara," Sango called out. "She'll get you, Inuyasha, and Shippo to safety then come back for Kagome and me. We can hold them off for that long at least!"

Everything in Inuyasha rebelled at the idea of leaving them behind like that, but he wasn't actually able to help them fight right now because the bridge was so narrow. As frustrating as it was, he resigned himself to following Sango's plan. However, they never got the chance to try as Urasue suddenly appeared in the air above them. Before they could react to her unexpected presence, she swung her giant scythe at them and the next thing Inuyasha knew he was falling through the air.

He hadn't fallen very far before Urasue swooped down and snatched him up, settling the sharp edge of her scythe against his neck before he could struggle. "It's you," she said. "You're Kikyo's reincarnation!"

Inuyasha didn't dare fight her as the risk of accidently slicing his own neck open was way too high. He did look down to make sure his friends hadn't just fallen to their deaths. Kirara had caught Sango and Kaede, and Shippo had transformed into that giant pink bubble form he'd used when he'd first met them, and Kagome had landed safely on top of him. Inuyasha only had a second to take this in before Urasue took off, and for an old hag she flew fast. It seemed like less than a minute before they arrived at her mountain lair and Urasue dropped Inuyasha on the wide ledge that surrounded her cave.

Inuyasha didn't hesitate to use his moment of freedom to attack her. Somehow in all the falling and flying he'd managed to keep a hold of his staff, so he swung around with it aiming for her head. Urasue managed to get her scythe up just in time to block the attack, but given the speed he'd seen her move at Inuyasha had been expecting her to and was prepared. A quick twist of his hand and the top portion of his staff came undone and continued to swing on its short chain, cracking Urasue sharply over the head.

She stumbled back from him with a curse, one eye closed with pain. Inuyasha smirked. "I'll have to remember to thank Sensei for giving me a three section staff instead of a regular one."

"I would kill you slowly for that if I didn't need to harvest your soul," Urasue snarled.

Inuyasha twisted the sections back together again; he'd had more practice using the weapon as a regular staff rather than a three section one, so he figured he'd probably last longer using it like this. He wasn't sure he could take Urasue on his own, and that meant he needed to stall so the others could catch up.

"What do you want my soul for?" Inuyasha asked, hoping she'd be stupid enough to talk instead of fight. "You've already got Kikyo's remains. I thought that was all you were after."

Urasue cackled. "Remains cannot be brought back to life without a soul, and her soul has been reborn in you. Once I return the soul to Kikyo, she will be truly alive and serve me! I will have her hunt down all the jewel shards for me, and then I shall use their power to rule all of Japan!"

On the plus side, it seemed she was stupid enough to monologue about her plan. The down side of course was that if her plan went the way she wanted, Inuyasha was going to die.

"Inuyasha, get down!"

He didn't look around to see what was happening, but dove to the ground at the sound of Sango's voice. Inuyasha was just in time too, because Sango's hiraikotsu cut through the air and slammed into Urasue. He almost expected her to be torn in half by the weapon, but it seemed she was more durable than Inuyasha would have liked. Even if she wasn't injured as badly as Inuyasha would have hoped, Urasue was still thrown into the cliff wall with bone crushing force. She slumped down to her knees, her breath rattling in a way that couldn't be good for her.

Inuyasha stood to his feet and Kirara landed on the ground beside him. Sango jumped off her back, the hiraikotsu already in her hand again. Kaede slid off more carefully, but as soon as she had her feet on the ground she had an arrow knocked and ready to be released. Shippo floated above the cliff and Kagome hopped off of him and to the ground. With a popping noise, Shippo shifted back to his normal form and landed a little ways behind the rest of them.

"Return Kikyo's remains, Urasue," Kagome said, "and we may let you live."

The ogress glared at them. "Do you think that I, Urasue, will bow to you?"

"I think you don't have much of a choice," snapped Inuyasha.

A soft noise echoed from the mouth of the nearby cave; Inuyasha wouldn't have paid much attention to it, but Kagome glanced that way and gasped making Inuyasha look over. A young woman stood there, dressed in traditional priestess clothes. She was roughly Kagome's height, with fair skin, long, silky black hair, and brown eyes. Inuyasha's skin prickled at the sight of her, and he instinctively knew there was something wrong with her though it took him a moment to realize what. It was her expression. Inuyasha had never seen such a blank, lifeless expression on anyone before. She looked more like a moving doll than an actual person.

_Who is she?_

Someone important, given the way Kagome and Kaede were staring at her like they'd seen a ghost.

_Oh. No way._

"Kikyo?" Kagome whispered, confirming Inuyasha's suspicions.

Inuyasha glared at Urasue. "I thought you said you couldn't bring her back without my soul."

"I cannot make her truly alive without a soul," Urasue corrected. "This is nothing more than a useless shell that looks like Kikyo."

"How dare you do this to my sister?" Kaede demanded. She didn't wait for an answer though before loosening her arrow. Had Urasue not been injured by the blow from Sango's hiraikotsu, she would probably have been fast enough to dodge it, but she was hurt and the arrow sank deep into her chest. Light burst from the wound, and Urasue screamed as it consumed her. Finally her scream died away and her body disintegrated into ash.

"Well," Myoga said as Urasue's ashes blew away. "That's one problem dealt with. Now, what should we do with her?"

Everyone looked over at Kikyo, or Inuyasha supposed, the Kikyo doll. As Urasue said, this wasn't really Kikyo so long as the soul resided within Inuyasha. But it was a cruel twist of fate that it looked like Kikyo. Even if it wasn't really her, it had to be painful for Kagome and Kaede to see something that looked exactly like her.

Kaede sighed heavily and approached the Kikyo doll. It didn't move or blink or show any sort of recognition at her approach. "It will be burned," Kaede said, and her voice sounded in that moment older than Inuyasha had ever heard from her before. "And this time I will scatter her ashes on the river to prevent something like this from ever happening again."

"I guess we should start looking for wood for a pyre," Sango said. "Inuyasha, Shippo, come on."

Inuyasha followed her but reluctantly; he wasn't convinced that Kagome and Kaede should be left alone with the Kikyo doll. But maybe it would be therapeutic for them? Or at least for Kagome, since Kaede had dealt with Kikyo's death fifty years ago; to Kagome, Kikyo had only died a few weeks ago.

Inuyasha followed the wide ledge around a corner or the cliff in his search for wood, and he almost tripped over a woman. She stood, and Inuyasha got a good look at her. She was short, with fair skin, auburn hair, and tear filled, orange eyes. Instantly Inuyasha brought up his staff in a defensive position. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Please," the young woman said. "Please, kill me."

Her request was so unexpected that Inuyasha actually dropped out of his stance. "What?"

"I am Enju," she said quietly. "Urasue revived me the way she attempted to revive Kikyo." She stared down at her hands. "This body is a clay shell, kept animated by consuming the souls of dead women." She looked up at him, and now the tears flowed freely down her face. "Please, no one should be forced to endure an existence like this. Let me return to the grave where I belong."

_How am I supposed to answer that?_

"Come on," Inuyasha said grabbing her hand and pulling her back toward the others. Hopefully one of them would know what to do. He noticed as he did so that she didn't feel like clay. Her skin was cool to the touch, but it was also just as soft as anyone else's skin.

Sango and Shippo had just returned with their first loads of wood when Inuyasha dragged Enju back to their little group.

"Who is she?" Shippo asked. He looked surprised but not alarmed to see Inuyasha dragging a new person towards them.

Shippo's words gathered everyone else's attention, and they all looked to see what Shippo was talking about. "This is Enju," Inuyasha said.

Enju pulled her hand out of Inuyasha's. "I am a creature like Urasue tried to make with Kikyo. Please, I beg you to end my existence an allow me to return to my rest."

"We're not killing you," Kagome said, her voice filled with more passion than Inuyasha had ever heard from her before. "You're a person, you're living. We are not going to end that!"

Enju shook her head. "Can you call this existence living? I must consume the souls of women to keep this body moving; by simply existing I cause others harm. Please, end this before more people suffer!"

Inuyasha was reminded suddenly of the Lord who had been possessed by the toad. He had also begged Kagome and Inuyasha to kill him when he'd thought there was no other way to stop himself from continuing to devour the souls of women. That time Kagome and Inuyasha had found a way to save him; but how could they manage that this time? There wasn't anything to save in Enju. Like she said, she was already dead. Thinking of it in that way, was it even really killing to return her to the state she was supposed to be?

Inuyasha's head said no, it wasn't. His heart couldn't quite agree.

"No," Kagome said, shaking her head vehemently. "This is a second chance at life for you; you should take it!"

But was it really, considering the conditions required for Enju to remain? Could existing at someone else's expense really be considered life? And why was Kagome so adamant about this anyway? She'd been willing to kill the Lord when she'd thought that was the only option for saving people. What made Enju so different?

_Is it because Kikyo was almost brought back the same way?_

A stab of hurt flashed through Inuyasha. Did Kagome wish Urasue's plan had succeeded, and that she had actually managed to bring Kikyo back to life? Did she realize that if Kikyo had been brought back, Inuyasha would have died?

Did she even care?

_If Urasue had managed to bring Kikyo back, I bet Kagome wouldn't have even tried to save me. She'd be too excited about having her best friend again!_

Hurt shifted into defensive anger, and Inuyasha snapped, "Enju's right."

Attention snapped over to him. "What do you mean she's right?" Kagome demanded.

"You heard what she said," Inuyasha replied, waving in Enju's direction. "She isn't really alive, and existing here is costing others their souls. For the safety of others, she needs to be put down."

"Put down?" Kagome repeated, her voice bordering on yelling. "She isn't just some animal!"

"Kagome," Sango interrupted. "I think Inuyasha is right. Even if she isn't actively trying to harm people, serious harm is still being done. I don't like it, but I think killing her might be the only option."

Kagome glared furiously at the other girl, her hands balled into fists. "This is not a vote," she growled.

"And what are you going to do about it exactly?" Inuyasha asked. "Force Enju to keep existing, even at the cost of people's souls?"

Kagome switched her glare to him. "I _will not_ kill her!"

"No one's asking you to," Inuyasha snapped back. Tossing his staff aside, Inuyasha stepped forward and yanked Sango's sword out of its sheath. He whirled back toward Enju who looked at him with an expression of mingled relief and gratitude. Swiftly she knelt down and bowed her head.

"Inuyasha, _stop_!" Kagome yelled.

His blow fell fast and clean, and Enju's now lifeless body slumped over. She hadn't been wrong when she'd called herself a clay shell; the inside of her body was hollow, and there was no blood to be spilled. Even so, staring down at the results of what he'd just done, something inside Inuyasha told him he'd just crossed a line that could never be uncrossed.

_She was already dead,_ he told himself.

Even so.

"How could you?" Kagome said, her quiet voice breaking the stillness of the moment. "How could you do that?"

Inuyasha couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. Instead, he simply handed Sango back her sword, and turning he scooped up his staff and walked away.

* * *

It was nearly two hours before anyone came for him. Inuyasha assumed they had probably finished building the pyre and at least started burning the shell of Kikyo, and probably Enju as well. It was Kaede that found him, standing at the edge of the cliff looking out over the landscape.

"How do you fare, Inuyasha?" Kaede asked as she came to stand beside him.

"I'm fine," Inuyasha said, but they both knew it was a lie.

The old priestess was silent for a few minutes, but finally she spoke. "I have killed many things in my lifetime, but none so human as Enju was. I know that cannot be an easy weight to carry. I will understand if you do not wish to talk to me, but you should talk to someone about it."

The last thing Inuyasha wanted to do was talk about it. He wanted to forget it had ever happened.

Kaede started to walk away and then stopped. "For what it's worth, Inuyasha, I agree that she needed to be returned to her rest. I just wish it had not been you to do it."

So did he.

Sometime later, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara came for him. "We're heading out now," Sango told him. "The three of us will ride on Kirara, and we'll meet Kagome and Kaede back at the campsite we used last night."

Inuyasha didn't bother asking why they weren't traveling as a group the way they had before. Kagome probably didn't want anything to do with him anymore, and Inuyasha couldn't blame her. At the moment, he didn't really want anything to do with himself either.

It was a quiet flight back to the campsite. Even Shippo, who normally couldn't stay quiet for more than five minutes at a time, was subdued. They arrived at the campsite ahead of Kagome and Kaede, which was as Inuyasha preferred it. The longer he could put off seeing her, the better.

By the time Kaede and Kagome arrived, Inuyasha, Sango and Shippo had gotten the camp more or less set up, and Inuyasha was fixing everyone instant noodles for dinner. Kaede tended to her horse while Kagome took up a position on the edge of the group, not speaking to anyone.

"Are the noodles done yet?" Shippo asked while bouncing impatiently at Inuyasha's side. Apparently the fox demon could stand silence for only so long before his natural inclination to chatter took over.

"Not quite yet," Inuyasha said, staying focused on his work. "It needs another minute."

Shippo pouted. "A minute can't really make that much of a difference."

"Well it does," Inuyasha said, not really in the mood to banter with Shippo like he normally would. Eventually the food was ready and Inuyasha passed it out to the others. Sango, however, took an extra cup from him and carried it over to Kagome so that Inuyasha wouldn't have to do so himself. Kagome accepted the cup silently.

Once dinner was over, everyone seemed to feel the need to turn in early, even though the sun was only just setting. As normal Shippo curled up in the sleeping bag with Inuyasha, and for once Inuyasha more than just tolerated his presence, but actually found it comforting to have him there. Even so, it took Inuyasha a long time to be able to fall asleep.

* * *

_A ball rolled toward Inuyasha, but the movement of it was strange, as though the ball was somehow oddly shaped. It continued rolling toward him until it bumped against his feet. Inuyasha leaned down and picked up the ball, and it was only then that he realized it wasn't a ball at all._

_It was Enju's head._

* * *

Inuyasha woke with a strangled gasp that was probably meant to be the scream he hadn't had time to get out in his dream. He shuddered, unable to get the images of his gruesome dream out of his head. He felt movement at his side and quickly looked down to make sure he hadn't woken up Shippo, and saw with relief that he hadn't. He glanced around and saw that no one else seemed to have been disturbed by his waking, except…

_Where's Kagome?_

When he had fallen asleep Kagome had still been sitting by the fire staring into the flames as they died down. Now the fire was cold and Kagome was nowhere to be seen.

_Whatever, it's fine, as long as she didn't see._

Inuyasha settled back down again, but he didn't sleep well the rest of the night, and he was only too glad when morning came and everyone began to stir. They got on the road quickly, and Sango, Inuyasha, and Shippo again spent most of the traveling time flying on Kirara. They arrived back in the village around lunchtime, but Inuyasha had no intention of staying. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he was off for the well.

"I'm going home," he called over his shoulder. "I'll be back in a few days."

It was with great relief that he arrived back in his own time, and Inuyasha was glad that Souta wasn't home from school yet. He didn't feel like answering a bunch of questions about his latest adventure.

Inuyasha went inside his house and found his mother and Gramps just sitting down to eat lunch. "Inuyasha, welcome home," Mrs. Higurashi said with surprise and delight. "Just give me a moment and I'll set out a plate for you."

"No thanks," Inuyasha said. "I'm not really hungry."

He went for the stares and Gramps called after him, "Inuyasha, is everything alright?"

"I'm fine," Inuyasha called back in a voice slightly sharper than he'd meant it to be. "I just want to be alone for a while."

* * *

Mrs. Higurashi was worried. Something bad had happened in the past, but she had no idea what it might have been or how to help Inuyasha. But whatever it had been it had to have been something awful, because she had never seem him so quiet and withdrawn before. Even when his father had died, Inuyasha had reacted with yelling and anger. Silence was something new, and if frightened her much more than she let on.

Gramps walked downstairs into the living room where she was folding laundry. It helped to have something to do with her hands when she was worried. "How is he?" she asked him.

Gramps shook his head. "It's no use. Whatever happened back in the past, Inuyasha won't talk to me about it."

Mrs. Higurashi pursed her lips. There had to be _something_ they could do. "Do you think he would talk to Sensei?"

"Perhaps," Gramps said, and Mrs. Higurashi didn't miss the undertone of injured pride. Gramps didn't resent the relationship that Inuyasha had with Sensei, but Mrs. Higurashi knew it had always hurt him a little that Inuyasha was closer to his martial arts teacher than his grandfather. It was a regrettable twist of fate, Mrs. Higurashi thought, but as much as Inuyasha loved Gramps, the two simply had nothing in common. After Inuyasha's father had died, Sensei had easily slipped into the father figure role for him, though Mrs. Higurashi wasn't sure either of them consciously realized this.

Setting the laundry aside, Mrs. Higurashi went for the phone and dialed Sensei's number. It rang twice, and then Sensei's deep voice came on the line. "Hello?"

"Hello, Sensei," she said. "It's Noriko."

"Hello, Noriko," Sensei said. "What can I do for you?"

"I'm calling about Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi said. "He just returned from the past about an hour ago, but something is wrong."

"Is he hurt?" Sensei asked, his voice sharply edged with worry. Mrs. Higurashi didn't take offence at his tone, knowing it was caused by concern for her son.

"Not physically that I can tell," Mrs. Higurashi assured him. "But I've never seen him this withdrawn before. He won't talk to us, but I thought he might be willing to talk to you."

"I have a few hours before my next class," Sensei said. "I'll be right over."

"Thank you," Mrs. Higurashi said and she hung up the phone.

True to his word, Sensei arrived quickly. "Where is he?" Sensei asked after Mrs. Higurashi let him in.

"Upstairs in his room," she told him. "Just turn left and his is the door at the end of the hall."

Sensei nodded and then went up the stairs with all the determination of a soldier marching to battle, which in a way, Mrs. Higurashi realized, he just might be.

* * *

Not sure how serious Inuyasha's issue might be or what state of mind he would be in, Sensei decided to try a more courteous method first and knocked on Inuyasha's closed door.

"I told you to leave me alone!" Inuyasha's voice snapped from the inside, apparently thinking it was either his grandfather or mother doing the knocking.

_And I'm done with courtesy._

Sensei threw open the door and marched into Inuyasha's room. Inuyasha swiftly sat up from where he'd been laying on his bed at first looking angry and then shocked when it registered just who was standing in front of him.

"Is that any way to talk to your elders?" Sensei growled.

"Sorry, Sensei," Inuyasha stammered, the apology coming automatically. "But what are you doing here?"

Sensei shut the door to Inuyasha's room so the teenager would feel they had enough privacy to speak freely. Then he settled himself down in Inuyasha's desk chair before pinning the teen with a stern gaze. "Your mother called me. She's worried about you and wants me to find out what's going on. So, what happened?"

Inuyasha's expression became shuttered then, more so than Sensei had ever seen on him before. "I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"Pity," Sensei said, crossing his arms. "Because I'm not leaving until you do."

"You have classes to teach this afternoon," Inuyasha said.

Sensei shrugged. "I have an assistant who can handle them for one day."

Inuyasha glared at him, and Sensei matched his stare evenly. He was confident he could win the staring match; he had decades more experience after all.

Finally Inuyasha looked away. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I-I killed someone."

Sensei hadn't been quite prepared to hear that, though he didn't let it show of course. Given the time period Inuyasha was traveling to and the nature of his mission there, Sensei had feared this would happen at some point, but he hadn't been prepared for it to happen quite this soon.

In a softer tone of voice, Sensei again asked, "What happened?"

The words spilled out of Inuyasha haltingly, in half sentences at first, and then in a desperate rush. When he had finished telling the story, Inuyasha said, "It had to be done. She was begging us to kill her, she was already dead, and her existence hurt others. Maybe this wouldn't be so awful if those were my only reasons for killing her, but they weren't. I was angry. At Kagome. I was angry at Kagome, so I killed Enju." As he finished speaking, Inuyasha looked directly at Sensei for the first time since he'd started the story, and Sensei could see tears in the teenager's eyes.

_What am I supposed to tell him?_ Sensei thought, staring into that desperate, despairing expression. He didn't have any experiences anywhere near to what Inuyasha was going through now. Sure, Sensei had been in numerous fights in his life, and though he'd left more than one broken bone in his wake he'd never killed anyone before, or even come close to it. Things like that just didn't happen in this day and age, at least not with the frequency that they had happened five hundred years ago.

_He's crossed a line that I haven't, and I don't know how to pull him back._

Perhaps killing this Enju person had been the only real option; from what Inuyasha had told him it certainly sounded as though that was the case. But Sensei couldn't help but wish that the blow had been delivered by anyone other than Inuyasha.

But here and now Inuyasha needed him to say something, and not something that would make him feel even worse about what had happened, but Sensei didn't know what he could possibly say to make him feel better.

Choosing his words with care, Sensei began. "I don't think there is anything I can say to make you feel better about this, Inuyasha, and there is certainly nothing you can do to change it. What's happened has happened. Likely only time will heal this wound for you. But I can say that this doesn't have to happen again. You can make sure that if you kill again, it is done for the right reasons."

Inuyasha grimaced. "I don't want to kill again at all."

"Of course not, stupid," Sensei said. "No good person wants to kill." Short tempered and thoughtless Inuyasha may be, but in his heart of hearts, he was also _good_. "But given the nature of your mission, do you honestly think you'll be able to avoid it? I grant you'll be much more likely to be fighting demons than humans, but you will end up fighting for your life and the lives of your friends." And wasn't that a thought that had kept Sensei awake at night. He wondered if Inuyasha's mother had realized how dangerous Inuyasha's trips to the past were.

Inuyasha swore, and given they weren't anywhere near Usagi, Sensei didn't bother to correct him. "I guess you're right. Sometimes I wish I hadn't ever gone back to the past."

"Do you?" Sensei asked.

Inuyasha was quiet for a moment, and then said, "No. No, not really. I'm glad I met all of my friends there. But life would be so much easier if all this had never happened."

"And is it the easy life you want?" Sensei asked.

Inuyasha sighed. "No. What I want is the life where I didn't kill Enju."

"Unfortunately, that is a life you cannot have," Sensei said. "Inuyasha, we all make mistakes. We're human, it's inevitable. But what is important is that we do not let those mistake define the rest of our lives. We must acknowledge our mistakes, learn from them, but then we must move on."

"Move on," Inuyasha muttered. "That's easier said than done."

"True," Sensei said. "It's a process, and it can take a long time. But you don't have to do it by yourself, you have others who care about you and will help you."

Inuyasha looked away again. "I don't want them to know."

"That's up to you," Sensei said. "But you need to tell them something, even if you don't give them all the details. They're worried about you."

"Yeah, I know," Inuyasha said. "I'll figure something out."

"Good," Sensei said standing to his feet. "And if you wish to talk to me again, about anything, feel free."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said. "Could you tell Mom and Gramps I'll be down in a bit?"

Sensei nodded and left the room going back downstairs where he found Mrs. Higurashi and Gramps waiting for him.

"Is he all right?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"I think he will be, in time," Sensei said. "He said he will come down and speak with you in a little while."

Gramps and Mrs. Higurashi both looked relieved at that.

"I'd better be going now," Sensei said. "My afternoon classes will soon be starting."

"Of course," Mrs. Higurashi said. As she walked him to the door, she added, "Thank you so much for doing this."

"Anytime," Sensei said. It was after all the promise he'd made at his best friend's grave, to keep an eye on his sons.


	15. Chapter 15

Serious Studies

Hanajima Sato approached Higurashi Shrine with determination. Inuyasha had been absent from school again today, and now she was goingto find out the truth about why he'd missed so much.

_If he doesn't start attending again, he'll never manage to catch up, and he'll get held back a grade._

Hanajima was determined that none of her students should fail in such a manner, especially when they were obviously fully capable of doing well.

_If he'd only come to school that is._

Hanajima knocked on the door of the Higurashi home and waited. A moment later it was opened by a middle aged woman with short black hair and wide brown eyes. "You must be Mrs. Higurashi," Hanajima said while pulling on a professional smile. "I am Hanajima Sato, Inuyasha's homeroom teacher."

"Oh, do come in," Mrs. Higurashi said, taking a step back so Hanajima could enter.

Hanajima entered and glanced around. From where she stood in the entryway, she could see a boy that must have been Inuyasha's younger brother eating a snack in the kitchen. In the living room sat and older man that must have been Inuyasha's grandfather, and Inuyasha himself, who looked remarkably healthy for someone who had just missed several days of school.

"Inuyasha, I'm surprised to see you looking so well," Hanajima said as she slipped off her shoes. "Given your recent absence from school, I had thought you must be dreadfully sick again."

"I uh, just recovered this afternoon," Inuyasha said, strongly resembling a deer in headlights.

"Is that so?" Hanajima asked as she approached them.

"It is," Mrs. Higurashi stepped in. "I should have called the school to let you know he'd be out for a few days. I apologize for the oversight."

The woman had to be lying, but Hanajima couldn't just accuse her of such a thing. "I see," Hanajima said instead. "Well, it is unfortunate that he's gotten sick so much recently. He's missed so much school, I'm worried about whether he can catch up. Since I know none of us want Inuyasha to fall behind, I've actually come up with a plan to help him."

Now Inuyasha looked downright wary, as well he should. Hanajima's plan would help him academically, but it should also act as a punishment as well; at least, that was her hope. "I would like Inuyasha to stay behind after school every day, and I will personally tutor him and help him catch up to the rest of his class. Once he is caught up, the after school lessons will stop of course."

"But I can't stay after school," Inuyasha immediately said. "I have martial arts lessons right after!"

So he _would_ be missing out on something. _Good. Let this be a lesson to you._

Of course, Hanajima said no such thing. Instead, she made herself look deeply regretful as she said, "I am sorry about that, Inuyasha, but I think it can be agreed that your academics are a bit more important. If you don't get caught up, there is a good chance you'll be held back a grade."

Hanajima saw by the look on Mrs. Higurashi's face that that statement was the final nail in Inuyasha's coffin.

"Inuyasha," Mrs. Higurashi said, "I think Sensei will understand. Ms. Sato is right, your studies are important, and I don't want you falling too far behind in them. It's very generous of her to offer to help you herself. You should thank her for her help."

Inuyasha scowled, and Hanajima imagined that thanking her was the last thing he wanted to do at that point in time. It hardly mattered. She was going to help him whether he wanted it or not.

"Thank you for your offer of help," Inuyasha said through gritted teeth.

Hanajima allowed him her most sincere teacherly smile. "Think nothing of it, Inuyasha. It is my duty as a teacher to help you. I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

"I've never seen Kagome this upset before," Shippo said.

"Nor have I," Kaede agreed.

Sango frowned as she petted Kirara's head absentmindedly. The four of them were in Kaede's hut having finished eating lunch, while Kagome was out in a tree on the edge of the village, not talking to anyone. Myoga had left them after they arrived back in the village, saying he had business of his own to attend to, though what kind of business a flea demon would have Sango wasn't sure.

Sango could understand why Kagome would be upset about Enju's death. None of them had been happy about it, but Kagome seemed to be taking it a bit far. While unpleasant, it had also been very necessary, and Sango didn't think Inuyasha deserved the grief Kagome was giving him, especially if her guess about him was correct.

Determined, Sango stood. "Where are you going?" Shippo asked her.

"I'm going to speak to Kagome alone," Sango said. "It isn't going to do anyone any good if she's still angry at Inuyasha when he comes back."

She left the hut and walked over to the tree that Kagome had stationed herself in. Even though Kagome had to know she was approaching, she did nothing to acknowledge Sango's presence.

"Kagome," Sango called up. She still didn't look at her, so Sango decided the best course of action would be to dive right in. "Kagome, why are you angry at Inuyasha?"

Kagome did look down at her then, her golden eyes flashing with anger. "Why am I angry? Sango, he killed an innocent woman!"

"An innocent woman whose existence was causing harm to others," Sango pointed out. "And she was begging for us to stop her."

"He still didn't have to kill her!" Kagome snapped. "It wasn't like she was doing it on purpose."

"No, she wasn't, but souls were being consumed all the same," Sango said. "What do you wish would have happened? That Enju would continue to exist, completely miserable, and continue to consume the souls of women? That was the only other option open to us, Kagome. Send her to the afterlife where she was supposed to be, or let her consume souls to stay here in the world of the living. Inuyasha chose to send her to the afterlife."

Kagome glared at her a moment and then looked away. "He didn't have to do it like that."

"No he didn't," Sango agreed. "And if my guess is right, Inuyasha feels worse about what happened than you do."

Kagome looked down at her again. "What do you mean?"

Sango hesitated just a second before speaking. Inuyasha probably wouldn't appreciate her talking about this, but really it wasn't hard to guess about it, and if Kagome were thinking clearly she'd have probably already realized it. "I'm pretty sure that was the first time Inuyasha has killed," Sango said. "You know a first kill isn't easy, and for it to have been someone like Enju probably makes it worse."

Sango could only imagine what it would be like for her first kill to have been someone like Enju; someone so human, who really didn't want to hurt anyone, who wasn't an active threat to your life, and who didn't fight back. Sango's first kill had been a snake demon that'd been stealing and eating children, and while she'd never felt guilty for killing it or any other demon, she could remember how sick she'd been right after the fight when the adrenaline had worn off. There was something terrible about ending a life, any life, even if it was for the best of reasons.

Kagome was staring at her claws, probably remembering her own first kill. "He killed a toad demon," she said softly. "But I don't think it really registered as a person to him."

"Generally the only ones that think of toad demons as people are other toad demons," Sango said.

Kagome made a small noise that might have been a laugh. Then she continued, "He had a nightmare last night."

Sango frowned. "Inuyasha did?"

Kagome nodded, and looked back over at Sango. "Yeah. I didn't sleep, so I heard him when he woke up."

Well, it wasn't hard to guess what it had been about. "So," Sango said leaning against the tree trunk, "do you think you can give him an easier time of it?"

Kagome nodded. "Yes. I guess I have been a little unfair."

"Just a little," Sango agreed. She was quiet for a moment and then said, "Do you want to talk about what else was bothering you?"

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked her voice defensive.

"You weren't this upset just over Enju," Sango said. "What else was it?"

Kagome's jaw tightened. "That isn't any of your business."

"Actually, it is," Sango said. "We're all a team, and a problem between you and Inuyasha is going to affect the rest of us as well. So, what else is going on?"

Kagome glared and refused to speak.

Sango sighed and said, "Am I wrong in guessing you were still mad at him for what he said about your half-brother?"

Kagome's eyes widened in a look of surprise. "He told you?"

Sango shrugged. "Shippo and I asked him what he'd done to make you angry, so he explained the situation."

Kagome let out her breath in a frustrated sigh, and Sango knew she was treading on thin ice. It could be argued that issues between Kagome and Inuyasha were the group's business, but issues between Kagome and this Sesshomaru person really weren't.

"Yeah," Kagome said. "I'm mad at him for that too. He had no right to say what he did."

"On this one, I agree with you," Sango said, and she could tell Kagome was surprised at that. Sango shrugged. "Hey, he's your brother. You can insult family, but no one else can, right? But, Kagome, you can't stay mad at him forever."

"He never even apologized for it," Kagome said.

"A lot happened," Sango reminded her. "He killed for the first time. He's probably not thinking about what he said to you."

"So I have to be the bigger person and forgive him, even if he never apologizes?" Kagome demanded.

"One of you has to be the bigger person," Sango said. "When you think about the circumstances, Inuyasha probably isn't capable of it at the moment."

Kagome seemed to deflate then. "I guess he isn't."

Sango was satisfied then that Kagome would forgive Inuyasha for everything, and they'd be able to work together again. But forgiving wasn't the same as forgetting, and Sango sincerely doubted that Kagome was going to forget.

* * *

_I haven't set foot in a library for years,_ Sensei thought as he made his way over to the shelf of psychology books in the local public library. He thought Inuyasha was probably doing better after their talk yesterday, but he wasn't at all certain he'd said the right things, and he was worried he wouldn't know how to help the teen if he came back with more war stories. Usagi was at school, Kagome hadn't come for a lesson today, and his dojo didn't open until the afternoon, so now seemed like a good time to do some research.

_Not that I'm entirely sure what I'm looking for._

Should he be researching post-traumatic stress disorder? Or should he be looking through the child psychology books? After all, Inuyasha was only fifteen, so surely that still counted as being a child.

"Since when have you been interested in psychology?" asked a familiar voice.

Sensei turned and was surprised to find Haruki watching him, several books tucked under the doctor's arm. It took him a moment to remember that he ought to have known there was a decent chance of running into him at the library today. Haruki had one day off a week from his clinic, and that was Tuesdays. Haruki was also an avid reader and creature of habit, so part of his Tuesday ritual was a trip to the library to pick out new books to read, though when he found the time to read them Sensei really couldn't say.

"Since recently," Sensei said if only because arguing that he wasn't interested would be rather pointless.

"And what's caused this recent interest?" Haruki asked walking closer. A frown crossed his face as he asked, "Usagi is alright, isn't she?"

"Usagi hasn't changed since you saw her last week," Sensei said dryly. "It's one of my idiot students I'm worried about."

"This wouldn't be the same idiot student that you dragged to my clinic, would it?" Haruki asked. It was easy to forget sometimes how annoyingly perceptive Haruki could be when he wanted to.

"That's the one," Sensei grudgingly admitted.

"What's really going on with him?" Haruki asked. "He didn't get an injury like that from a fall, and I noticed his side scaring from another recent injury."

He'd had another injury? Inuyasha hadn't told him about it. Sensei made a mental note to start specifically asking Inuyasha about whether or not he'd been injured on these trips of his, because apparently Inuyasha wasn't willingly going to bring them up.

"It isn't really something I can talk about," Sensei said. Normally he wouldn't keep secrets from Haruki; the two of them had been friends since their high school days, and Sensei doubted if there was anyone who knew him better. But even with their history, Sensei knew if he tried to tell the other man that Inuyasha was going back in time and fighting demons, Haruki would be seriously questioning his sanity.

"If it's gang trouble, you know I can help," Haruki said. "After all, I've been there."

"Inuyasha isn't involved in gangs," Sensei said, though he could understand how Haruki might come to that conclusion based on his injuries. "I'm sorry, Haruki, it's just too personal of a matter for me to tell you about it."

Haruki huffed. "Fine then. But if he ends up back in my clinic, I expect an explanation."

Hopefully Inuyasha would never be injured so badly again as to need Haruki's help. "Fair enough," was all Sensei said. He decided to check out the books he was looking at so he could have more time to go through them later, and make notes if necessary. "Are you still coming over for dinner tonight?" That was another Tuesday ritual.

"Of course," Haruki said, walking with him to the checkout counter.

"Good," Sensei said. "Usagi is planning to make a special desert tonight."

"She's a good cook for a ten year old," Haruki commented. "She's already better than Mari was."

Sensei smiled a little at the fond reminder of his wife, gone these past ten years. "Mari couldn't stand being in the kitchen," he said.

They checked out their books and Haruki waved. "I'll see you tonight."

* * *

Inuyasha had not been eager to attend school Tuesday. Not even knowing he was going to get to hang out with Hojo cheered him up, because he knew Hojo was only going to ask him questions about what had happened in the past, and Inuyasha didn't want to talk about that. Even worse, he knew he was going to have to stay after with Ms. Sato to do his makeup work.

_Stupid teachers,_ he thought darkly. _How much of this stuff am I even going to use in real life?_

"What's got you so down?" Hojo asked him at lunch.

"Ms. Sato is making me stay after school every day until I catch up on my work," Inuyasha complained. "That means I'm going to miss my lessons with Sensei."

"Ouch," Hojo said. "Still, I guess it isn't really unexpected."

Inuyasha glared at him. "What do you mean it isn't unexpected?"

"You're disappearing for days at a time with no good explanation," Hojo said. "Of course the school is going to take steps to make sure you aren't getting involved in some kind of trouble, and keeping you after school is a way to help make sure you aren't involved in a gang or something."

"I wouldn't join a gang!" Inuyasha protested.

"They don't know that," Hojo pointed out. "They only know that you've quit coming to school regularly when you used to rarely miss a day. Obviously they're going to think that something weird and possibly illegal is going on."

Inuyasha groaned. "Great. Just great. Why can't we go to a school that doesn't care about us? It'd make my life easier."

"Maybe, but your education would be terrible," Hojo put in.

"I have bigger things to worry about Hojo," Inuyasha said.

"So, if you're doing after school work, are you going to be in the present for a few days?" Hojo asked.

Inuyasha sighed. "Yeah, I'll probably stay the rest of the week. Or until I get caught up, whichever comes first."

"Have you told Sensei you're going to be missing a few days of lessons?" Hojo asked, and Inuyasha cringed.

"Not yet," he said. "I'll have to go by whenever Ms. Sato releases me and let him know what's up."

"He probably won't be pleased," Hojo said.

"Probably not," Inuyasha agreed.

The lunch break ended, and afternoon classes began. Inuyasha paid little attention to them, knowing he'd missed enough that he wouldn't be able to understand it anyway. He figured he may as well just wait to pay attention until his afternoon lesson with Ms. Sato, which came all too soon.

"Good luck," Hojo called to him as he left the classroom when the school day ended.

"Thanks," Inuyasha grumbled, knowing that Hojo wouldn't actually hear his reply.

Ms. Sato arrived a few minutes later and peered down at him through her glasses. "Good afternoon, Inuyasha. Let's get started, shall we?"

As much as Inuyasha hated staying after school for this, he had to admit that working with Ms. Sato helped him get through his makeup work much more quickly than if he'd been trying to do it on his own at home. It was useful having a teacher on hand to explain the things he didn't understand right away, and even if she was a busybody, Ms. Sato was also a good teacher.

"Well, I think we've made good progress today," Ms. Sato said when their session finally ended. "I'll see you in the morning, Inuyasha."

"See you in the morning," Inuyasha said, eagerly shoving his books into his bag. He was so tired of being at school; even if it was helpful, he didn't know if he could stand to keep this up for long.

He walked to Sensei's before going home so he could explain his absence, as well as the fact that he would be missing the next several days as well. Best to get it over with now.

_Dang, it's time for dinner. He might not be in the dojo._

Still, Inuyasha had to check, so he ducked inside to see. The dojo was empty which meant that Sensei must be in his house.

_He's probably eating dinner then._

Inuyasha debated whether or not he should bother him. On the one hand, he might be put in a bad mood if Inuyasha interrupted his meal. On the other hand, Inuyasha knew he'd be in a really horrible mood if he had to wait another day to find out why Inuyasha hadn't showed up for practice.

_Either way, I'm screwed._

Deciding to get the whole ordeal over with, Inuyasha walked over to Sensei's house and knocked on the door. A few moments later the door opened and Sensei glared down at him.

"I have a good reason," Inuyasha said hastily, hoping to forestall a lecture.

"I'm listening," Sensei said crossing his arms over his chest.

"My homeroom teacher ambushed me at home last night after you left," Inuyasha said. "She's sentenced me to staying after school every day until I'm caught up on all the school work I've missed, and Mom's upholding the judgment. So I won't actually be able to make it for the next couple of days."

Sensei's scowl deepened. "Then I expect to see you here before school for your training."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. "You can't be serious. Do you realize how early I'll have to get up to have time for that?"

"Do I look like I care?" Sensei asked. "Come back in the morning or don't come back at all. And tell Kagome I expect to see her tomorrow for her lesson."

With that pronouncement Sensei shut the door in Inuyasha's face. Inuyasha glared at the door. Sensei never bluffed about kicking out a student, so he knew he didn't have a choice but to come in the morning.

_And now I'll have to talk to Kagome too._

Of course he'd known he'd have to speak to her again, he just hadn't expected it to be today. Grumbling under his breath about his misfortune, Inuyasha marched home. When he arrived he went straight to the well house, deciding to go back and deliver the message before going home to eat whatever supper his mother had saved for him.

Leaving his backpack in the well house, Inuyasha jumped down the well and was greeted by the familiar light show. Climbing out on the other side, Inuyasha glanced around, but he wasn't lucky enough for Kagome to be in the clearing. So, he trudged toward the village, and was a little surprised to meet up with Sango at the edge.

"Inuyasha, what are you doing back so soon?" she asked.

"I needed to talk to Kagome for a minute," he said. "What are you up to?"

"I just thought I'd patrol the perimeter of the village before turning in," she said. "Inuyasha, if you're going to talk to Kagome, you might want to apologize for what you said about Sesshomaru."

"What?" Inuyasha asked, having no idea what she was referring to.

Sango rolled her eyes. "Men. Remember, before we got to Urasue's lair, you told Kagome it was stupid of her to want to be accepted by Sesshomaru?"

He did remember the conversation after she said that, and he flushed a little with embarrassment. It really had been a stupid thing for him to say, even if it was the truth.

"Oh, right," Inuyasha said. "Thanks for reminding me. Do you know where she is?"

"She's at Kaede's hut," Sango said.

"Thanks," Inuyasha said again. He followed the dirt path that led to Kaede's hut, and found her sitting on the ground outside it watching Shippo and Kirara playing. Shippo perked up at the sight of him and immediately barreled over jumping into his arms.

"Inuyasha, you're back!" he said, hugging him tightly.

"Just for a few minutes," he said, untangling himself from Shippo's death grip. "I need to talk to Kagome."

Kagome looked up at him with a serious expression on her face, but she stood and walked over. "Okay," she said. "Let's talk."

Inuyasha left Shippo with Kirara and they walked off a little way. "Sensei wanted me to let you know that he expects you to be back for your training tomorrow," Inuyasha said.

Kagome nodded. "Of course. I'll have to apologize for missing today."

They fell silent again, and it was an awkward, heavy silence as Inuyasha tried to figure out how to apologize to her.

"I'm sorry," she said, catching him by surprise.

"What are you apologizing for?" Inuyasha asked.

"For the way I reacted when you killed Enju," Kagome said. "I was out of line. You were right, it was our only option, and I know it couldn't have been easy for you."

It hadn't been. It still wasn't, but Inuyasha didn't really want to talk about that. Instead he changed the subject by blurting out his own apology. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said what I did about you and Sesshomaru. It was wrong of me."

Kagome smiled at him, a small, tentative smile, and at that moment rays from the sun that was just starting to set hit Kagome just right, so she seemed to be surrounded by a magical halo of light, and in that second she wasn't just pretty but breathtakingly beautiful. "Should we forgive each other and start over then?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha managed to say. "Yeah, I think we should."

* * *

AN: For anyone interested in knowing about my progress in writing season two, I've just finished chapter ten. Which puts the sequel to this a little under halfway done.


	16. Chapter 16

Nightmares

Getting up well before sunrise was really, really hard, and as he crawled out of his nice, comfortable bed, Inuyasha wasn't sure who he blamed for this more, Ms. Sato or Sensei. Somehow he managed to get dressed, and then he made his way downstairs to the kitchen to make himself a quick breakfast. Since he wasn't much of a cook and it wasn't a good idea to eat a heavy meal before training anyway, breakfast took the form of a piece of toast and some fruit.

Inuyasha left the house and headed out into the early morning. Or was it early enough to still be considered night? Either way, the streets were completely deserted as he made his way to Sensei's dojo. When he arrived, he found Sensei waiting for him looking as rested as he did every other day, which was kind of annoying to Inuyasha.

"Glad to see you could make it," Sensei said.

Inuyasha wanted to respond with some kind of witty retort, but he wasn't awake enough to think of one. All he could manage was a, "Morning, Sensei."

He didn't stay sleepy for long once training started. All it took was a few new bruises and he was wide awake. Inuyasha thought the training was a bit more intense than usual, probably because there were no other students for Sensei to focus on.

Finally, Sensei called the training to a halt. "That's enough for now," he said. "You can use the shower in the house to get ready for school."

"Thanks, Sensei," Inuyasha said. He'd been thinking he was going to have to put up with going to school sweaty from training, which he could deal with, but it would definitely make anyone who had to sit near him hate him.

Just as Inuyasha was reaching for the door to leave the dojo it swung open revealing Kagome. "Oh, hey," he said, and then he noticed that she'd taken time to change into the jeans, shirt and hat that he'd gotten her before she'd come over. She also had a second sword tied to her belt, and it took Inuyasha a second to place it as the sword they had gotten for Sensei. With all that had happened he'd forgotten about that too.

"Good morning," she said, smiling at him.

"I've got to head out," Inuyasha said. "You can make it back home when your training is over by yourself right?"

"Of course," Kagome said.

"Good," Inuyasha said. "See you later."

He went over to Sensei's house and walked on in, since he'd been given permission to be there. Sensei's house wasn't very large; it was a one story affair, with a small living room that opened up into the kitchen, and a short hallway led from there to the two bedrooms and bathroom. Usagi, already dressed up in her elementary school uniform, was sitting at the small table in the kitchen eating breakfast. "Morning, Inuyasha," she said upon seeing him.

"Morning," Inuyasha said. "I'm just taking a shower here, and them I'm heading out."

She nodded as if this were an everyday occurrence. "Want to walk me to school when you're done?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure our schools are nowhere near each other," Inuyasha said.

She smiled brightly at him as she said, "So? You could just run from my school to yours. It would be good exercise."

"Sorry kid," Inuyasha said while making his way down the hall to the bathroom. "It ain't happening."

He showered fast and changed into the clean uniform he'd brought with him. When he was done, he found that he and Usagi were leaving the house at about the same time. She gazed up at him with her best puppy dog eyes look. "Please walk me to school?" she asked.

"No way," Inuyasha said. "I can't afford to be late to school; my homeroom teacher would kill me."

The puppy dog eyes quickly turned into a pout, which Inuyasha ignored. "Later, Usagi," he said, and took off for his school.

* * *

After Inuyasha left the dojo, Kagome approached Sensei. "I apologize for my absence yesterday," she said. "But I have brought you something today to thank you for spending your time training me."

"That isn't necessary," Sensei said.

"I know," Kagome said, "but I wanted to do it anyway." She untied the sword from her belt and held it out to him. "This sword was made by demon slayers from my time. If there is ever trouble again like with the Noh mask, this sword will actually hurt the demons."

Sensei took the sword from her hand and drew it from its sheath. He swung it experimentally, testing its balance and weight. Apparently satisfied, he sheathed the sword and graced Kagome with a small smile. "Thank you, Kagome. I appreciate this gift. Now you'd better go change for training."

"Yes, Sensei," Kagome said and headed off for the changing room, glad that Sensei was pleased with her gift.

* * *

Inuyasha met up with Hojo at the front gate of his school, and his friend greeted him cheerfully. "Good morning, Inuyasha!" he said. "Isn't today a beautiful day?"

As long as it wasn't raining, Inuyasha didn't particularly care what the weather was like, especially today. "Is it lunch time yet?"

Hojo laughed at the question. "Did you skip breakfast this morning or something?"

"No," Inuyasha said. "I've been up since before dawn. Sensei's solution to missing training in the afternoon is to have it in the morning before school."

"Oh dear," Hojo said. "How are you going to get enough sleep with a schedule like that?"

"I'll go to bed early, I guess," Inuyasha said.

"If you're going to bed early, when are you going to have time to do homework, or study for tests?" Hojo asked.

"I'll manage," Inuyasha said.

"If you need help preparing for tomorrow's history test, just let me know," Hojo said, and Inuyasha looked over at him sharply.

"We have a test in history?" he demanded.

"Yeah, they announced it last week…while you weren't here," Hojo trailed off and then looked sheepish. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you."

"Well that's just great," Inuyasha grumbled. "Today just gets better and better."

Inuyasha tried to pay attention in class, but once he was confined to his desk he found it difficult to focus. Since he was no longer moving around, his early morning and long training session began to catch up with him, and he found it hard to stay awake in class. Hojo took to poking him whenever the teacher wasn't looking to help keep him awake, which was annoying but probably necessary.

The school day finally came to a close, and Inuyasha wanted nothing more than to be allowed to go home and take a nap, but unfortunately he had to stick around for his private lessons with Ms. Sato. Thanks to his lack of sleep the previous night, his focus wasn't quite all there, and she noticed.

"You're not focusing, Inuyasha," she said after he'd made another stupid mistake on his work.

"Sorry," he said. "I was up early."

"What for?" she asked.

"My training session," he said. "Since I'm missing it in the afternoons now, Sensei has me coming in before school."

Ms. Sato's lips pursed in a frown, though Inuyasha couldn't see why she should care; it wasn't like his schedule affected her. "Inuyasha, if you don't get enough sleep your grades will suffer."

"It's only until I catch up on the makeup work," Inuyasha said. "It isn't that big a deal."

"Anything that impacts your academic life is a big deal," Ms. Sato said. "What is the name of your dojo?"

Inuyasha told her automatically. "Wait, why do you want to know?"

"I expect you to get more rest, Inuyasha, and do well in school," Ms. Sato said. "Or I will be having a talk with your sensei."

Inuyasha cringed at that idea. He couldn't see any way in which a conversation between Ms. Sato and Sensei would go well. "Please don't do that," he said.

"Stay rested and it won't be an issue," Ms. Sato said. "You're done for today. I'll see you tomorrow, and don't forget to get a good night's sleep tonight. You'll need it for your history test."

_Well, I'm pretty much screwed._

He might be able to pull off a passing grade for that test with some cramming tonight, and a healthy dash of luck, but he wasn't likely to pull off what Ms. Sato would consider a good grade. He'd just have to do his best and pray she wouldn't actually go through with her threat to talk to Sensei.

Inuyasha trudged home and found dinner on the table waiting for him when he arrived. "How was your day, Inuyasha?" his mother asked.

Inuyasha sat down and resisted complaining with a herculean effort. It would only upset her, and it wouldn't change his situation at all. "Fine," he said.

"Inuyasha," Souta spoke up, "after dinner do you want to help me practice baseball? Tryouts are next week, and I really want to make the team."

"Sorry, can't," Inuyasha said.

Disappointment immediately flooded his face, leaving Inuyasha feeling just the teeniest bit guilty. He really hadn't gotten to hang out with Souta lately, and normally he wouldn't mind throwing the baseball around with his little brother. But he had that test to study for, and he needed to try and get a decent night of sleep so he would be functional for his lesson with Sensei. He didn't have time to play with Souta too.

Gramps and Mrs. Higurashi sent Inuyasha disapproving looks, and it made Inuyasha want to snap at them. Did they want to go to Sensei's lesson, or take his history test for him? Inuyasha swallowed the angry words that wanted to come and said instead, "Okay, fine, Souta. But only for an hour, tops. I've got stuff to do."

Souta's enthusiastic grin helped to soothe some of Inuyasha's temper. "Okay, great!" He began eating at a faster rate, obviously eager to get outside and play. He finished eating before Inuyasha and shoved his chair back from the table. "I'll go get the ball and gloves; hurry up!"

Inuyasha waved him off. "I'll be right there."

When Souta was gone, Mrs. Higurashi smiled and said, "Thank you for making time for him, Inuyasha. Souta has really missed you when you're gone."

"I don't mind," Inuyasha said, and that was mostly true. He loved his little brother, and enjoyed hanging out with him when Souta wasn't being a pest. But couldn't he get just a bit of a break right now?

He finished the last few bites of food and made his way outside. Souta tossed him a baseball glove, an eager expression on his face. "Ready?"

Inuyasha couldn't help but smile back at him. "Ready. Let's see if your curve ball has improved any."

They spent almost a full hour outside before Souta tired of the game. When they finished, Inuyasha retreated to his room and pulled out his history notes and text book. He studied until the words started blurring on the page.

Shoving his books back, Inuyasha sighed. "I don't think I'll get any more work done tonight." He looked over at his clock and cringed. It was just after midnight, which meant he was going to be getting less than five hours of sleep. "That's just great." He consoled himself with the thought that this was only a temporary situation. As soon as he caught up on his makeup work, his schedule would go back to normal.

_And then I'll go back to the past, get behind in school, and it'll start all over again._

Inuyasha groaned and flopped into bed, not bothering to change out of his day clothes. _Dropping out of school sounds tempting right now._ Except that wouldn't work. He was required to finish this last year of middle school, and even though high school wasn't required there was no way his mother would stand for him not going. _This sucks. So much._

No point in worrying about it right now when there was nothing he could do about the situation. Rolling over, Inuyasha closed his eyes and fell asleep.

* * *

His alarm went off all too soon. Inuyasha swore as he turned it off. The only thing that kept him the breaking the darned object was the knowledge that his mother would make him pay for it out of his own allowance.

He dressed and then went downstairs quietly so as not to wake any of his family. For the first time he wished his family were coffee drinkers. Sure, tea had caffeine too, but he'd always heard that coffee had a better result than tea. Which could be totally wrong, but he wasn't against trying it out to see at the moment.

Inuyasha didn't care enough this morning to fix himself breakfast, so once he was done with his tea he went ahead and made his way to Sensei's dojo. As before, Sensei was waiting in the dojo for him already.

Inuyasha was sloppy that morning in training. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been this sloppy in a training session.

Sensei ordered him to halt. "What's wrong with you this morning?" he asked.

Irritation bubbled at the implication that this was somehow Inuyasha's fault. "I didn't get much sleep last night," Inuyasha said. "I was studying for a test in history today."

Sensei's frown deepened, and he seemed to be considering something. "Take tomorrow off. Exhaustion isn't going to help you."

_You couldn't have considered that before ordering me here in the first place?_ But Inuyasha didn't say the words. It wouldn't do since Sensei was giving him time off now.

"Thanks, Sensei," he said instead. "I appreciate it."

Kagome arrived then, again dressed in her modern day clothes. It was probably a mark of how tired Inuyasha was that he couldn't even muster up the energy to appreciate the sight. "Good morning, Inuyasha," she said, greeting him with her customary smile.

"Morning, Kagome," Inuyasha said. "See you later."

Inuyasha borrowed Sensei's shower again, and dodged Usagi's repeated requests to walk her to school. When he arrived at his own school, Hojo was waiting for him at the entrance. "Good morning, Inuyasha. Ready for the test?"

"Not at all," Inuyasha said. "One bad test grade won't kill me though."

"I suppose not," Hojo said. "Inuyasha, how much sleep did you get last night? You look really tired."

"Not enough," Inuyasha said, a yawn punctuating his words. "But Sensei is letting me off the hook tomorrow, so I should get a decent amount of sleep tonight. I just have to make it through this day first."

"That's good news," Hojo said.

The school day dragged on slower and duller than most, and Inuyasha found it increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open. Slinking down lower in his seat, Inuyasha's chin fell towards his chest and his eyes closed as he slipped off into sleep.

* * *

_His body was frozen in place and no matter how much Inuyasha strained he couldn't move at all. Darkness surrounded him, pressing in as though it were a living thing, trying to suffocate him. A sound echoed, tap, tap, tap, and he slowly realized they were footsteps. A figure stepped out from the darkness, a woman with long black hair and empty brown eyes._

_Kikyo._

"_My soul," she said her voice dead and hollow sounding. "You have my soul. Give it to me!" She lunged forward and one hand grasped Inuyasha's shoulder while her other hand plunged into his chest, causing an explosion of pain._

* * *

A hand pressed down on his shoulder, his instincts screamed danger, and Inuyasha _moved_. It wasn't until the screams cut through his panic that Inuyasha really registered what was actually going on. He was in his classroom, the other students scrambling to get away from him. He had Ms. Sato pinned down to a desk, her glasses missing, her arm twisted behind her in a painful hold and the side of her face that he could see quickly reddening in a manner that meant he must have hit her though he couldn't clearly remember doing so.

Inuyasha quickly released her and stumbled back. "I—I'm sorry. I didn't mean—"

Ms. Sato stood and glared at him. "Out. Now."

Numbly, Inuyasha left the classroom. His mother was going to kill him. When Sensei found out about his loss of control, he'd bring Inuyasha back from the dead and kill him again.

_I can't believe I did that. I've never done anything like that before._

It was because of the nightmare. He knew that. Ms. Sato must have touched his shoulder to wake him up when he'd fallen asleep in class, and by bad luck it had fit in with the nightmare and Inuyasha had instinctively fought back as he had been trying to do in the nightmare.

But even so…even so…

The noise level of the classroom quieted, and the door opened. Ms. Sato stepped out into the hall, followed by Hojo. She'd straightened her clothing and retrieved her glasses. The left lens was cracked, and Inuyasha really hoped that was from the glasses falling to the ground and not from when he'd hit her. The red mark on her face had already begun to darken, and Inuyasha winced as he realized it was going to bruise.

Hojo sent Inuyasha a concerned look, but didn't say anything before walking off down the hall. Ms. Sato looked sternly at him. "Follow me."

She led the way to the principal's office, which didn't surprise Inuyasha in the least. _I'll probably be suspended, maybe even expelled. At least I won't have to worry about that history test after all._

The thought almost made him laugh hysterically, but he held it down. No need to make himself look crazier than he already did.

Ms. Sato led him into Principal Miyaki's office. Principal Miyaki was an older man, his once black hair faded into gray. He had a full beard, was short of stature and a bit chubby. All in all, he vaguely reminded Inuyasha of pictures of Santa Clause, and the dishes of candy on his desk didn't help the image. Inuyasha had never really had run-ins with the principal before, but he'd heard from other students that the man was nice. Of course, no matter how nice he was, Inuyasha couldn't see any way that he wouldn't be getting in trouble for this mess.

"Oh my, Ms. Sato," Principal Miyaki said when they entered his office. "What happened to you? Should you be going to see the nurse?"

"I'm fine," Ms. Sato said. "I've sent a student for ice, so you don't need to worry about that."

So that's what Hojo had been up to.

"Well, that's good," Principal Miyaki said. "But what happened to you in the first place?"

Ms. Sato turned her gaze to Inuyasha and he sincerely wished the ground would open up and swallow him. "Perhaps Inuyasha could explain what happened better than I."

Principal Miyaki's gaze switched to Inuyasha, mingled with concern and disappointment. Before any of them could speak, there was a knock at the door. "Come in," Principal Miyaki called.

The door opened and Hojo stepped in, a bag of ice in one hand. "I brought the ice for Ms. Sato," he said.

Ms. Sato held out a hand for it, saying, "Thank you, Hojo. If you would please return to the classroom now."

Hojo handed over the ice. As he left the room he shot Inuyasha a look that was clearly a question, but Inuyasha had no idea what he was asking and so no idea of how to respond. Ms. Sato pressed the ice bag to her face as Principal Miyaki said, "Go on, Inuyasha."

"I fell asleep in class," Inuyasha said. "I—I had a nightmare. When Ms. Sato tried to wake me, I reacted to the nightmare. I didn't realize what was really going on at first."

"Oh dear," Principal Miyaki said. "That must have been some nightmare." He held out a dish of hard, pink candies toward him. "Plum candy?"

Taken aback by this mild reaction, Inuyasha stammered, "Um, no, thanks."

"I'm guessing your nightmare was about whatever it is that's caused you to miss so much school lately," Ms. Sato said.

Inuyasha gaped at her a moment wondering how she could have possibly figured that out before remembering that he was supposed to have been out sick. "No, I just had the flu when I was out," he said. "That has nothing to do with this."

"Please," Ms. Sato snapped. "You have not been out because of an illness!"

"I had a doctor's note for the first week," Inuyasha snapped back at her.

"And I don't know how you got your hands on it, but you weren't sick," Ms. Sato responded. "Something is going on with you, and it's obviously something bad if it's causing you to have nightmares that make you attack people when you wake up! And since your mother and grandfather are lying for you, they must be allowing whatever it is to go one!" She turned to the principal. "Personally, I think it has something to do with that dojo he's going to."

"Would you just stop it?" Inuyasha practically shouted. "This has nothing to do with Sensei, and nothing to do with my family, so just leave them out of it!"

"Both of you, calm down," Principal Miyaki said in a sharper voice than Inuyasha had heard him use before. When they were both quiet, Principal Miyaki continued. "Now, Inuyasha, you say your Sensei and family are not involved in whatever is going on? Then I'll believe you." He shot Ms. Sato a sharp look before she could speak up with any words of protest. "But clearly there is something going on in your life, and it is something serious. Your behavior recently has been very unusual, and this incident today is frankly alarming. We only want to help you, Inuyasha, and we can't do that if you don't tell us what is happening."

Oh sure, he could just tell them what was going on in his life. He could tell them all about how he was traveling five hundred years into the past through a magic well and fighting demons who were after the shards of a magical jewel that he'd accidentally broken. Obviously they'd be completely understanding, and wouldn't recommend that he be sent off to a mental institution or anything. Right.

But apparently he wasn't going to be able to get away with lying to them. With no other option available that he could see, Inuyasha chose to remain silent.

When it became apparent to the two adults that he wasn't going to speak anymore, Principal Miyaki sighed. "Very well, then. I hope you'll feel free to talk to us as some point, Inuyasha. But in the meantime, I'm afraid I can't let this situation go completely. You are suspended for the rest of the week. I expect you to be back in school on Monday."

Inuyasha was shocked at the light sentence. He'd half expected to be expelled for hitting a teacher, and if he'd only faced suspension, he'd expected it to be for a lot longer than a few days. "Yes, sir," he said, and left the principal's office.

Leaving the school, Inuyasha tried to decide what to do now. He didn't want to go home because Principal Miyaki would no doubt call his mother and Inuyasha didn't really want to face her with this situation. He could go to Sensei's, but he'd ask why Inuyasha wasn't in school and Inuyasha didn't want to explain the situation to him either. Plus, Kagome would still be there training, and he didn't want to admit this to her either. Normally if he didn't want to go home or to Sensei's, he'd go to Hojo's house, but that wouldn't work out either since Hojo was still in school.

"Inuyasha, wait up!"

Inuyasha jerked around at the sound of that voice. "Hojo? What are you doing? School's still going on!"

Hojo shrugged. "I snuck out of the school after I left Principal Miyaki's office."

"But there's the history test after lunch," Inuyasha said.

Hojo rolled his eyes. "I think this is more important, Inuyasha. What happened back there?"

As they walked in no particular direction, Inuyasha gave Hojo the same story he'd given Ms. Sato and Principal Miyaki. He'd had a nightmare, Ms. Sato had woken him up at the wrong moment.

"Your nightmare had something to do with whatever has been happening to you in the past, didn't it?" Hojo asked.

"Yeah," Inuyasha admitted.

"Inuyasha, what's been going on back then?" Hojo asked. "I can only assume it's bad. I mean, that Noh mask you, Sensei, and Kagome fought killed a lot of people before you managed to stop it. I have to think the past is just as bad, if not worse than that incident. What's happening then?"

Inuyasha hesitated. He hadn't talked about the details of what went on in the past with anyone. He gave his family a vague outline of what went on, and the only thing he'd told Sensei about was Enju. Sure Kagome knew everything, but to her it was all normal. Maybe it would help to talk to someone.

"It's going to be a long story," Inuyasha said. "We should find a place to sit."

They went to a park that was mostly deserted at that time of day and sat down on a bench. Taking a deep breath, Inuyasha began to talk. He told Hojo about getting dragged back the first time by Mistress Centipede, and the attack that had followed. He told him about Yura, and Sesshomaru, and the toad demon and the Lord. He talked about the Thunder Brothers who had murdered Shippo's father and how he'd been useless in the fight against them. He told him about the ghost, Mayu. He talked about Urasue, and Kikyo, and Enju. He didn't spare any of the details, but rattled them all off.

When he finished, Hojo was quiet, looking up at the sky. "That's all really awful," Hojo finally said. He looked over at Inuyasha. "Inuyasha, are you really sure you should be facing all that? Because based on what you've told me, it's never going to get any better or easier. Demons are never just going to hand jewel shards over to you. They're going to fight you. You're going to have to kill them. And there is a chance they'll be too strong for you and your friends. There's a chance your friends may die. There's a chance _you'll_ die. Can you really keep doing this?"

Inuyasha didn't answer right away but thought seriously about Hojo's question. Could he keep this up? If it bothered him this much already, could he really stand to keep going through with the battles that were sure to come?

Or was the better question could he afford to stop?

"I think I have to," Inuyasha said. "The jewel breaking is my fault, and I'm the only one who can sense it. If I don't help, who knows how long it would take Kagome and the others to find all the shards? I have to do something. All the people who are being hurt because of the jewel are being hurt because of me. I can't just ignore that."

"Idiot," Hojo said.

Inuyasha glared at him, caught off guard by his words. "What?"

"Nothing that is done with the jewel shards is your fault," Hojo said. "You can't be held responsible for other people's actions. Anyone who uses the jewel shards to hurt people would have been hurting people with or without them. That isn't your fault. And maybe they are able to hurt a larger number of people with the shards, but that isn't your fault either. You can't be held responsible for the actions that other people take. If you make yourself feel guilty for the actions of other people that you can't control, then yeah, you are an idiot."

Inuyasha kept glaring at him for a moment longer, but then sighed, dropping his gaze. "I guess that makes sense when you put it like that."

"Of course it makes sense," Hojo said. "It's the truth."

Inuyasha smiled a little. "Yeah, I guess it is."

Hojo's stomach grumbled then, loudly. "I don't suppose you went back to the classroom to get your stuff before you left school, did you?"

"Do I look like I have my bag?" Inuyasha asked. He really should have gone back to get it, but he hadn't thought of it at all.

"So, what are we going to do for lunch?" Hojo asked.

Inuyasha considered. He didn't have any money on his person, and he doubted that Hojo did either. "What are the chances of us successfully sneaking into your house for food?"

Hojo considered. "Probably not bad. Mom and Dad should both be in the shop right now."

Inuyasha stood. "Well, come on then. Let's go get some food."

Eventually of course Inuyasha did have to go home. As appealing as hiding out at Hojo's house forever was at that moment, it simply wasn't a realistic option. But he wasn't looking forward to the reception he was likely to receive when he arrived.

Souta arrived at the bottom of the steps that led up to their property at the same time as Inuyasha. Souta grinned up at him. "Hey, Inuyasha. I thought you had to stay after school with your teacher today, or did you finish that?"

"Um, no," Inuyasha said as they started up the steps. "I, uh, got sent home early."

"What for?" Souta asked.

Well there wasn't much point in hiding the information since Souta was likely to hear about it as soon as they stepped foot in the house.

"I got in trouble at school," he admitted.

Souta's eyes went round as saucers, but before he could ask more questions they made it to their house. The moment they were inside Mrs. Higurashi swooped down on them. "Inuyasha Higurashi! Where have you been? Your principal called me _hours_ ago! I even called Sensei looking for you!"

Inuyasha was horrified. "You called Sensei?"

Mrs. Higurashi huffed. "Of course I did! Why didn't you come straight home?"

Because he had wanted to put off being yelled at for as long as possible. But it probably wasn't a great idea to say that. "Sorry," was his ineffective response.

Mrs. Higurashi pointed to the couch. "Sit down young man. We are going to have a talk."

Inuyasha obediently went to the couch, while Souta mumbled something about going to his room and escaped up the stairs. Inuyasha had no doubt that Souta's door would stay cracked open so he could eavesdrop on the lecture.

"Do you want to explain to me what is going on that could cause you to hit your teacher?" Mrs. Higurashi said.

"I was having a nightmare, that's all," Inuyasha said, trying to downplay the incident.

"Regular nightmares don't cause people to wake up fighting," Mrs. Higurashi said, and Inuyasha could hear the worry beneath the anger in her voice. "Does this have something to do with that fight you told us about?"

Inuyasha thought back to what he'd told his mother and Gramps about the whole incident with Enju. He'd told them the truth, but only bits of it. He'd told them that there had been a fight, and an innocent woman had been killed in the crossfire. He hadn't told them that he was the one who had done it, or that it had happened after the fight ended.

Inuyasha let out a breath of air. "Yeah," he admitted. "It did."

Mrs. Higurashi was silent a moment and then said, "Inuyasha, I don't think I want you going back there anymore."

Inuyasha's head snapped up. "Mom, I have to! They need my help!"

"And what is that help costing you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked. "You're falling behind in school, having nightmares, _hitting your teacher_! You're getting into life and death fights! I don't want anything to happen to you, Inuyasha."

"People are dying there, Mom!" Inuyasha said, his frustration causing him to rise to his feet.

"Those people aren't my children!" Mrs. Higurashi said with more force than Inuyasha had ever heard her say before. "I care about your safety much more than I care about theirs, Inuyasha. If you keep going back there, there's no guarantee that you won't be killed."

"There's no guarantee he won't be killed here in the present, either," Gramps said, startling both of them. Neither Inuyasha nor his mother had noticed him entering the house. "Inuyasha is right. He must continue going to the past. I understand your fears, but Inuyasha is the only one who can track down the jewel and contain its power, and it is essential that he do so. You don't understand the kind of havoc the jewel can cause. It must be stopped, whatever the cost."

A heavy silence fell at those words. Finally, Mrs. Higurashi took a deep breath. "Fine. Do whatever you must."

She walked away, and Inuyasha sent Gramps a grateful look, though he didn't dare say anything because he didn't think his mother would appreciate hearing it. He went upstairs to his room and started to pack a bag. Since he was going to be out of school for the rest of the week anyway, he figured he may as well go back to the past and search for jewel shards.

As he packed Souta stuck his head inside the room. "Inuyasha?" he said.

"Come on in and shut the door," Inuyasha said.

Souta did as told. "Did you really hit your teacher?"

Inuyasha winced at the reminder. "Yeah, I did."

"Cause of a nightmare?" Souta asked.

"It was a bad nightmare," Inuyasha said.

Souta sat on his bed, watching Inuyasha pack his things. "You're going back tonight, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha said. "Do me a favor and don't tell Mom or Gramps until after I'm gone."

Souta frowned. "They aren't going to like that."

Inuyasha shrugged. "It's easier right now than telling them."

"When will you come back?" Souta asked.

"I'll try to come back Sunday night," Inuyasha said. "It's probably best if I don't start off next week by missing school."

He went to his bedroom window and opened it. There was a tree outside his window, and Inuyasha was well practiced in making the small jump that it took to reach the tree from his windowsill. Not that he had a habit of sneaking out of his house; as a kid he'd just thought this was far more fun than using a door. His staff might make it just a bit tricky though.

Souta's arms went around his waist, holding him in a brief, tight hug. "Be careful, okay?"

Inuyasha ruffled his brother's hair fondly. "I'll be fine. See you soon."

Inuyasha made the jump to the tree and then climbed down. Settling his backpack more comfortably on his shoulders, he went to the well and jumped down to the past.

* * *

AN: Happy Valentine's Day to all! Sorry that this chapter couldn't have fluff in it in honor of the holiday, but when I was writing these chapters I didn't really know when I was going to post them, so...yeah. Drama and nightmares instead of fluff.


	17. Chapter 17

Cursed Ink of the Hell Painter

Hanajima was not in the best of moods. Her jaw ached, she was going to have to buy new glasses, and Hojo had skipped school after Inuyasha had been suspended. She supposed that she should have seen that as a possibility since Hojo and Inuyasha were close friends, but Hojo had never skipped school before, and to be fair most of Hanajima's thoughts had been focused on Inuyasha himself.

Principal Miyaki said they shouldn't push Inuyasha to talk to them, to give him time to speak with some adult that he trusted. Hanajima disagreed with this approach. Something bad was going on, and he obviously didn't want to talk to the school about it. His mother and grandfather were letting whatever it was happen, and Hanajima was suspicious that the dojo Inuyasha attended had something to do with it. After all, what kind of dojo insisted that their student come before school for training if they couldn't make it after? Would it have killed Inuyasha's sensei to let Inuyasha have a few days off? It was highly suspicious, to her way of thinking. Plus, whatever Inuyasha's nightmare had been about, it must have had something to do with fighting considering how he'd woken up. That also pointed to this dojo, as well as making Hanajima worry that Inuyasha might be in real danger.

Luckily for her, Inuyasha had left his bag at school, which gave her a perfect excuse to attempt and investigate the situation under the guise of returning his bag to him at home. Just as she was reaching the top of the steps that led to their property, she caught sight of Inuyasha jumping out of a tree beside their house. She stopped and watched him as he shifted a backpack on his back and started walking off.

_Now where is he going? He looks like he's prepared for some kind of trip or something. And what on earth does he have a staff for?_

Hanajima decided to follow him, which probably wasn't the most professional thing to do, but she felt it was certainly the most reasonable. She felt she was much more likely to find out what was going on like that than by trying to interrogate his mother.

Luckily, Inuyasha didn't seem to be paying much attention to his surroundings as she followed him. He disappeared inside a small building that appeared to be some kind of shed. Hanajima waited a few minutes for him to return, but he didn't.

_What's he doing in there?_

Motivated by a mixture of curiosity and concern, Hanajima approached the shed and pressed her ear to the door. She couldn't hear anything at all inside, no matter how she strained to hear the slightest noise. Finally deciding to risk it, she cracked the door open so she could see what was happening.

_It's empty?_

Sliding the door open and stepping inside, Hanajima saw that the one room building was indeed empty, though it wasn't a shed like she'd originally thought. It was a well house. "Where is he?" she wondered out loud, looking around. The door she had come through was the only way in or out of the well house, and she couldn't understand where Inuyasha might have gone. Hanajima decided to investigate the well, as it was the only thing in the well house at all. To her surprise, there was a rope ladder inside, leading down to the empty bottom of the dry well.

"Is there a tunnel down there or something?" she wondered. She couldn't tell from up here, as the light at the bottom of the well was much too dim. She dug her cell phone out of her purse for a light and then set down her purse as well as Inuyasha's school bag. Maneuvering over the lip of the well and down a rope ladder in a pencil skirt and low heels was not the easiest thing Hanajima had ever done, but she managed. When she made it to the bottom she used her cell phone as a flashlight to look around, but she didn't see any tunnels, just the wooden sides of the well. She tapped on them just to make sure none of them were concealing a secret tunnel of some kind.

"They don't any sound hollow," she said. She frowned. It seemed that for all intents and purposes, Inuyasha had just entered this well house and disappeared, but that was impossible. But if he hadn't disappeared, where on earth could he have possibly gone?

With only more questions to show for her trouble, Hanajima climbed back out of the well and picked up her purse and Inuyasha's bag. She checked outside to make sure no one was around before exiting the well house and making her way over to their home. She knocked on their door and a moment later Mrs. Higurashi answered.

"Oh, Ms. Sato," she said, clearly surprised to see her.

Hanajima held up Inuyasha's bag. "Inuyasha left this at school today; I just wanted to return it."

Mrs. Higurashi accepted the bag. "I'm so sorry about what happened today."

Hanajima forced a smile, ignoring the pain it caused to her face. "It's alright, Mrs. Higurashi. I know he didn't mean to do it." She resisted the urge to demand answers about the well house and where Inuyasha had gone. Instead, she decided to attempt a more subtle route. "Is Inuyasha here? I wanted to assure him I'm not upset with him over what happened today."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded, and then suddenly seemed to notice her glasses. "Oh my, did Inuyasha do that? I promise I'll pay for your glasses to be replaced."

"Oh, no need to worry about that," Hamajima said, waving one hand in dismissal. "My insurance should cover it, so there's no reason for you to concern yourself."

"Well, if you're sure," Mrs. Higurashi said. Then she turned and called, "Inuyasha, can you come down for a minute please?"

Inuyasha's younger brother appeared at the top of the stairs a moment later. "Inuyasha left for the few-friend's house," he said, obviously changing what he was saying when he noticed Hanajima standing there. Even if the switch in words hadn't been obvious, his wide eyed stare would have made the fact that something was going on clear.

_What's a name of a place that starts with the sound 'few'? And why is Inuyasha's little brother in on this situation too?_

She wanted to ask these questions, but didn't. Instead, she eyed Mrs. Higurashi to see how the other woman reacted. Her lips pursed together in a frown, but all she said was, "It seems Inuyasha isn't here after all."

"It's fine," Hanajima said. "I'll just be on my way then."

Hanajima left then, largely unsatisfied with the visit. She hadn't been able to get any of the answers she wanted, and was only left with more questions than she'd had originally.

_What to do tonight? Grade work, or make lists of places that start with the sound 'few'? Decisions, decisions._

* * *

Arriving in the past was a relief for Inuyasha. Granted he might have to worry about demons attacking him and trying to take his jewel shards, but at least he didn't have to worry about dealing with school, or his mother, or Sensei.

_Gah, Sensei is not going to be happy when I get back._

He was probably expecting to speak with Inuyasha tomorrow since he didn't have to go to school now. That was a conversation that Inuyasha would just as soon avoid.

He found Kagome waiting for him at the edge of the village. "Hey," she said. "I wasn't expecting you to come tonight."

"Yeah, well, stuff happened," he said.

She visibly hesitated before asking, "Does it have to do with whatever your mother was so upset about?"

Inuyasha stared at her. "How do you know about that?"

Kagome shrugged, looking a little embarrassed. "I only got back here a few minutes ago. When I arrived at your home, I could hear her yelling. I wasn't eavesdropping, I just have good hearing, so I couldn't help but notice. Plus, I was at Sensei's when she called asking if you were there. Not that he told me what she had called about; I have good hearing."

Inuyasha sighed. Keeping secrets from her was going to be near impossible. "I got suspended from school today."

He saw by the look on her face that she didn't understand what that meant.

"I got in trouble, so they won't let me come back for the rest of the week," he said.

"Oh," she said. "I'm sorry."

Inuyasha shrugged. "It happens sometimes. But it means I can be here a few days without worrying about missing school, so that's a plus."

They started walking into the village together and Inuyasha asked, "So, after Mom called, was Sensei mad?"

"Actually, I thought he seemed more worried than mad," Kagome said.

"Worried?" Inuyasha asked, startled. "Sensei doesn't get worried."

Kagome shrugged. "I guess he worries about you. But your mom did say that, well, you'd hit one of your teachers."

Argh. He really _couldn't_ keep things secret from her, could he? And why'd his mother have to go and tell Sensei everything like that?

"Why'd you do that?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious, and perhaps a tinge concerned.

"I'm too tired to have this conversation again," Inuyasha said. "Could we just leave it alone for now?"

"Of course," Kagome said quickly. "I don't mean to pry."

As they drew closer to Kaede's hut, they saw Sango outside going through a series of kata while Shippo and Kirara watched. Shippo caught sight of them and grinned. "Hey, Kagome, Inuyasha!" he said, dashing over and jumping up into Inuyasha's arms for a hug. "Are you going to stay longer than a few minutes, this time?" Shippo asked him.

"Yep," Inuyasha said. "I'm here for a few days."

"Great!" Shippo enthused.

Sango stopped her kata to approach them. "Welcome back," she said, smiling at them both. "I guess this means we'll be traveling in the morning?"

"That's right," Kagome said. "We'll be heading out bright and early in the morning."

"Not too early," Inuyasha said. "I could really use a day to sleep in a little."

The mat that acted as Kaede's door rustled and the old woman stepped outside. "Welcome, Inuyasha, Kagome."

"Good afternoon," Inuyasha said.

Kaede turned her one good eye on Kagome and Sango. "Do you two think you can handle getting supper prepared? Inuyasha needs to practice with his power, and if you're leaving in the morning then this is the only time we'll have."

More training was not what Inuyasha wanted right now. But he had been slacking off on training with his power lately. Though in his defense, he'd had a lot of things going on.

"We can handle it," Sango said.

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha. "Want me to take your bag?" she asked.

"Sure, thanks," Inuyasha said. Shippo hopped out of his arms so he could shrug his bag off and hand it over.

He followed Kaede around the hut and when she settled down in the grass, Inuyasha knelt down in front of her. "Today I would like to try something different," Kaede said. "I know you have had some difficulty grasping your power. This time, when you meditate, I don't want you to try and take hold of it. I want you to open yourself, to let it flow out of you freely."

"I'll try," he said, though Inuyasha wasn't entirely sure what she meant by letting it flow out. Closing his eyes, Inuyasha centered himself and slowed his breathing to the steady rhythm of meditation. As before, it wasn't difficult to find that sea of power within himself.

_I need to open myself, reach outward._

Which meant what exactly? He tried to sort of mentally step back from his power, unsure if he was doing the right thing or not, and turn his attention more to his surroundings without actually opening his eyes. To his surprise, his power followed his attention, flowing outward in a gentle wave leaving Inuyasha suddenly aware of those around him.

He could sense Kaede just in front of him, her presence a steady, but at the same time sort of faded, light. A few feet off to his left, Shippo was a brilliant blue flicker, bright but not very strong. Beside him, Kirara was a more muted, subtle sort of yellow presence. Beyond them in the hut, Inuyasha could sense Sango and Kagome's presences. Sango's presence was as steady as Kaede's, but not as bright as Shippo's. It was a controlled sort of presence. Unlike the others, who had a constant feel to them, Kagome's presence pulsed, like a heartbeat.

"Very good," he heard Kaede say. "Now, turn back to yourself."

Inuyasha turned his focus inward again, and the power flowed back inside. He opened his eyes and found that even though his power wasn't exactly active anymore, he could still sort of sense the others. It was much, much fainter a feeling now, faint enough that he could probably ignore them if he wanted to, but it was definitely still there.

"What was that?" Inuyasha asked Kaede.

"That is your spiritual sense," Kaede said. "You can think of it as an extension of your ability to sense jewel shards; you also have the ability to sense the presence of demons and spiritually gifted or sensitive humans. You don't have a very large range right now, but given time and practice it will become very difficult for any demon to sneak up on you."

"It doesn't work for regular humans?" Inuyasha asked.

Kaede shook her head. "Not normally, though some with strong spiritual power can sense the presence of normal people with enough training."

"Okay," Inuyasha said. "Is there any way to turn it off?" Because while this could be a useful skill, it was kind of weird, being aware of just where the others were.

"I'm afraid not," Kaede said. "But do not worry. You get used to the feeling after a while."

_Great,_ Inuyasha thought.

"So," Kaede said, "has this exercise given you any insight as to how you control your powers?"

Inuyasha frowned as he thought about that. On previous attempts at controlling his power he'd always tried to firmly take hold of it and make it do what he'd wanted, which had worked about as well as trying to hold a fistful of water.

_But I _have_ made it work before. It worked against Mistress Centipede, the toad demon, and when I made that necklace work against Sesshomaru. I used my power on the Noh mask and Urasue too, and with the seals I used to catch Mayu._

_So what do all those times have in common with this time?_

…_Trying to hold a fistful of water…_

Slowly it came to him. He'd been thinking about his power all wrong. Inuyasha had always thought of it as a weapon, a tangible sort of thing he could pick up and hit bad guys with. But his power wasn't like that at all, not really. It was more like water; a person couldn't just pick up fistfuls of water, but it could be channeled wherever it needed to go. Those times he'd made it work hadn't involved him trying to consciously grab hold of his power, but it had been Inuyasha clearing a path and his power had gone.

"It flows," Inuyasha said, uncertain if he was putting it in the right words. "I can't just shove my power into doing what I want it to, I have to channel it."

Kaede smiled. "Very good." She reached over and tapped Inuyasha's staff, which was lying on the ground in front of him. "Try it."

"You mean put my power in the staff?" Inuyasha asked.

"Yes," Kaede said. "It needs to be reinforced; it won't stand up to demons very long if you don't do something about it."

Inuyasha nodded. Placing his hands on the staff he closed his eyes and settled himself back into a meditative state so he could see his power again. Once he'd succeeded at that, Inuyasha focused on the feel of the staff beneath his hands. His power flowed forth, down his arms, through his hands, and soaked into the staff.

After a moment of this, he heard Kaede speak again. "Now, Inuyasha, you must cut off the line of power between you and the staff. Do not recall the power from your staff, leave it in place."

Inuyasha pictured a sharp knife slicing between himself and the staff, and suddenly it was cut off from him, leaving him feeling strangely empty. He opened his eyes and looked down at the staff, which oddly enough seemed to glow just the tiniest bit, but that could also be his eyes playing tricks on him as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him, reminiscent of when he'd exorcised Mayu's ghost, though not quite as bad thank goodness.

_I thought I was tired before! I feel like I've had three sparring matches with Sensei, all back to back._

"You put a bit more of it in there than I expected," Kaede said. "You'll likely feel a bit tired for a while, but a good night's rest should help you recover."

"Are we done for now?" Inuyasha asked. "I don't think I could do anything else."

"We are done," Kaede said and stood.

Inuyasha followed suit and a wave of dizziness hit him, forcing him to lean on his staff for support. "Are you okay, Inuyasha?" Shippo asked from where he'd been watching the proceedings.

"I'm fine," he said, though he didn't really feel it.

Kaede frowned as she looked over at him. "Are you certain? That shouldn't have exhausted you this badly."

"I was already tired," Inuyasha admitted. "I haven't had much sleep the past two nights."

Kaede shook her head. "I apologize. If I had realized you were already so tired I wouldn't have had you do this tonight."

"It's okay," Inuyasha said while trying to stifle a yawn. "I needed to learn it."

He followed them into the hut where Kagome and Sango were still working on preparing dinner. "How'd the lesson go?" Sango asked.

"He is progressing well," Kaede said. "Inuyasha, feel free to get a futon and rest until supper is ready."

"Thanks," Inuyasha said. Rest sounded wonderful, and once he was settled on the futon, not even the background noise of the others' working could keep him awake.

* * *

When Inuyasha woke up the first thing he noticed was the warmth of Shippo's body curled into his side. The second thing he noticed was that he was incredibly hungry, but he couldn't smell dinner cooking. Opening his eyes, Inuyasha looked around and saw that Kagome wasn't in the hut, Kaede was up just starting a fire, and Sango was waking up on the other side of the room.

"Good morning, Inuyasha, Sango," Kaede said.

"Morning?" Inuyasha asked as he sat up rubbing his eyes. "What happened to yesterday?"

"You slept," Kaede said simply. "We attempted to wake you for dinner, but you wouldn't wake. Are you feeling better this morning?"

Inuyasha paused before answering, taking a mental inventory of himself. He did feel much better, though not quite back to his usual level. "Yeah, I feel a lot better."

"Good," Kaede said.

The mat hanging over the doorway rustled and Kagome entered carrying a bucket of water. "Good morning," she said, smiling at all of them before moving to help Kaede prepare breakfast.

Inuyasha shook Shippo a little to wake him. "Hey, Shippo, time to wake up."

Shippo squirmed deeper under his blanket. "Don't wanna."

"Fine. Then I'll just eat your portion of food," Inuyasha said, repeating a threat he'd used more than once on Souta in the past when his little brother hadn't wanted to get up.

Shippo sat up quickly. "I'm up, I'm up, don't eat my food!"

Inuyasha grinned at the reaction. _I guess that one works on all kids, not just humans._

Once they'd finished eating breakfast they set out on their trip, choosing to walk at first because it was such a nice day. "It's kind of weird," Inuyasha said as they followed the path.

"What is?" Sango asked.

"Well, this is a whole huge adventure, but it also just kind of feels like we're going out for a walk," Inuyasha said.

Sango chuckled. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Inuyasha. When we hit the adventuresome parts, you may wish for the quiet times back."

That was probably true, and it was a nice day for hiking out in the wilderness, which this more or less was, path or not. But when they hadn't run into anything of interest by lunch time, Sango suggested they fly on Kirara for a while so they could cover more distance, and everyone agreed it was a good idea. Inuyasha, Shippo, and Sango flew on Kirara while Kagome jogged beneath them. Traveling like that it didn't take them long to get out of the wooded area and into some plains. While admiring the view, Inuyasha noticed something strange up ahead, like many strange dark lumps tossed about on the ground. "What's that?" he asked.

"Battlefield," Sango replied, a grim undertone to her voice.

Of course. He should have expected them to come across battlefields; after all, fighting had been a very common occurrence in this day. Sango would have flown on over it, but when Kagome reached the edge of the battlefield she waved for them to come down. When Kirara landed Sango asked, "What is it Kagome?"

"This battlefield," Kagome said. "It isn't right."

Inuyasha tried hard not to look at the mangled corpses. That was nightmare fuel he didn't need. "There's a right kind of battlefield?" he asked.

Kagome turned to look out at it. "I can't smell any blood, and there should be a lot of it. But what I do smell is ink."

"Well that doesn't make any sense," Shippo said.

"No, it doesn't," Sango agreed. "And it means humans probably didn't do this."

"But what kind of demon drains all of their victim's blood and leaves the smell of ink?" Inuyasha asked, visions of a vampire squid monster dancing through his mind.

"None that I've ever heard of," Kagome said. "Which means there's probably a jewel shard involved. Inuyasha, can you sense anything?"

"No," Inuyasha said. "If there's a jewel shard involved it must be out of my range. But maybe…" Closing his eyes, Inuyasha centered himself so he could feel his power and then reached out into the world around him. Flaring to life like a beacon, Inuyasha could sense not one, but three jewel shards, and not too far away from them either. His eyes snapped open as he pulled his power back inside. "There are three jewel shards," he said. "But I don't think it's a demon that has them."

"Scratch what I said about humans not doing this then," Sango said.

"Which way?" Kagome asked.

Inuyasha pointed. "They're that way. If we move quickly, we should be able to catch up."

"Then let's go," Kagome said.

Sango, Inuyasha, and Shippo hopped back on Kirara and she leapt up in the air while Kagome followed on the ground. It was only minutes before Inuyasha spotted a lone figure on the ground. "Is that him?" Sango asked over her shoulder.

Inuyasha could sense the jewel shards clearly now. "That's him," he said, his grip on his staff tightening. If this guy had really wiped out that group of men, then they might have a really dangerous fight on their hands.

Kirara angled down to land, and the man stopped walking as he noticed their approach. If he was surprised by the sight of a giant flying cat demon with riders or Kagome's appearance, he didn't show it. He was dressed simply in purple and black robes, and he leaned lightly on a staff in one hand. The expression on his face was one of calm interest. "Good afternoon, fellow travelers," he greeted them.

Kagome didn't mince words, stepping forward with one hand on her sword. "Did you kill those men back there?"

Now he did look surprised, and the expression seemed genuine. "Of course not," he said. "I am nothing more than a simple monk. What makes you think I'm even capable of such a thing?"

"Simple monk nothing," Inuyasha said, sliding off of Kirara's back. Sango might need her to be able to move fast if this came down to a fight, and she'd do better with only one person riding her rather than two. Besides, it wasn't as if Inuyasha had any long range attacks to make use of. Pointing an accusing finger, Inuyasha said, "You've got three jewel shards! And don't bother trying to lie about them, because I can sense them."

"You can sense the jewel shards?" the monk responded. "That is impressive. While you're correct that I do have jewel shards, I am still not the one who attacked those men. In fact, I was hoping to find whoever did."

"What for?" Sango asked suspiciously.

"For the same reason as you, I imagine," the monk said. "To collect the jewel shard they must surely posses."

"In that case," Kagome said, "why don't we work together? After all, we do have the same goal."

"Say what?" Inuyasha responded. "Why would we work with him?"

Kagome looked at him innocently. "More help is always welcome; besides, we don't really know what we're going to be up against. We might end up wishing we had help later."

Inuyasha was of the opinion that they could handle any situation they might run into, so they should just take this guy's shards and go. However, before he could voice any of that, the monk said, "How could I turn down the chance to work with two such beautiful ladies as yourselves?"

Sango seemed less than impressed with the monk's flattery, but Kagome actually blushed, and somehow that annoyed Inuyasha even more.

"My name is Miroku, by the way," he added.

"I'm Kagome," she told him. "That's Inuyasha, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara. So, did you have a plan?"

"I did, actually," Miroku said. "The local Lord lives in that direction, and I thought if anyone would know what happened to those men, it was likely to be him. Or, if he doesn't know for sure, he and his servants should have at least heard rumors that could give us a place to start looking."

"Sounds good," Kagome said as the two started walking.

Sango slid off of Kirara's back as there were too many of them to bother with flying now. Shippo jumped over to Inuyasha's shoulder just before Kirara shrank down to her smaller size.

"I don't like him," Inuyasha muttered under his breath as they followed Miroku and Kagome.

"At the moment, I share your opinion," Sango said quietly so they wouldn't hear her. "After all, we only have his word that he didn't use his jewel shards to kill those men. But until we know for sure, keeping him close is a good idea. After all, it wouldn't do to attack him if he's innocent, but it wouldn't do either to let him get away from us if he's not."

Inuyasha really hoped that was Kagome's reason for wanting to keep the monk around for now, and if it was, he hoped this Miroku person wasn't clever enough to figure it out.

As they walked, Miroku kept the conversation going. "I am curious, how did you all end up traveling together? You make a rather unusual group of companions."

"That's kind of a long story," Kagome said. "And really, it's probably better suited for another time."

"I see," Miroku said. "Well, hopefully one day I'll get to hear it."

"What has you searching for the jewel shards?" Sango asked. "Most humans wouldn't bother with it."

"That's also kind of a long story," Miroku said. "But the short version is this. It isn't the jewel itself that interests me. I'm actually hunting a particular demon that I am certain will be hunting down the jewel shards. If I collect jewel shards long enough, then I am bound to run into him eventually."

_If that's his motivation, it kind of makes it less likely that he's the one who killed those men,_ Inuyasha admitted to himself. He still didn't like him though.

"What makes you so sure that this one demon is going to go after the jewel shards?" Shippo asked. "I mean, sure, a lot of demons will be interested in getting it, but a lot of them won't want the bother of it either."

"I am certain this one will because he killed the priestess that was guarding the jewel fifty years ago," Miroku said.

Kagome stopped walking and whirled on him. "What?" she demanded. "How do you know that?"

Miroku seemed a bit taken aback as her sudden intensity. "My grandfather also hunted this demon; his name is Naraku. It was actually the death of this priestess that led my grandfather to him. My grandfather was nearby when he heard of the death of the priestess, and so he went to pay his respects. While traveling to the village he first encountered Naraku, and it was during that encounter that he found out it was Naraku who had slain the priestess. He spent the rest of his life hunting the demon, which was quite the challenge as Naraku was a shape shifter, so every time he found him Naraku was in a different form."

"Did your grandfather ever think to tell anyone else that Naraku was the one who had killed the priestess?" Sango asked dryly.

Miroku blinked. "No. Should he have?"

"Would have been helpful, yeah," Inuyasha said. "The villagers all thought that Kagome was the one who killed her!"

"Oh dear," Miroku said. "I do apologize on my grandfather's behalf. But if you are the half demon that Naraku framed for killing her, then how are you still alive? I thought you were supposed to have been killed."

"Kikyo didn't kill her, obviously," Inuyasha said. "She sealed Kagome to a tree until I freed her."

"Why?" Kagome demanded, though she didn't seem to actually be focusing on any of them in particular. "Why would he kill Kikyo and frame me for it? I don't understand it."

"This is only speculation," Miroku said, "but I would guess to taint the jewel. She would have died filled with hatred for you since she thought you had betrayed her, and if she killed you she would have been shedding innocent blood. Such actions would have tainted the jewel with darkness, deeply corrupting it. But the jewel disappeared after her death, so Naraku was unable to get his hands on it, and within a few years he went into hiding. Now that the jewel's surfaced I'm sure Naraku will as well."

Kagome's hands clenched into fists. "I never knew what had really happened to her; everyone thought her death was my fault. But now that I know, I swear I'm going to find this Naraku and kill him myself!"

"Well," Sango said in the silence that followed that declaration. "For now, we'd better focus on the task at hand, and that's finding whoever killed those men."

They started walking again at her words, and this time there wasn't any conversation. It didn't take too long before they spotted the local Lord's castle. Two guards stood outside the gate, and as their group approached the guards stepped forward. "Halt!" one of the guards called out. "Who are—" Then his eyes widened as he noticed Kagome. "Demon!" he cried.

Miroku quickly stepped forward. "Peace, please. Kagome is a half demon, yes, but she is no threat to you. Would a monk like myself or a demon slayer like dear Sango be traveling with her if she were evil?"

Sango glared at him, probably for the 'dear' comment.

The guards hesitated for a second, and that was all Miroku needed to barrel on. "Now, we don't intend to take up much of your valuable time, good sirs. We simply wished to ask a simple question; do either of you have any idea who or what may have slain that company of men to the south?"

"No, we don't," one of the guardsmen said. "Some artist came by earlier today claiming it was him, but he was obviously lying. How could a simple artist kill that many people?"

"An artist?" Kagome asked. "That could explain the smell of ink."

"You actually think he could have managed it?" the guardsman asked, incredulous.

"If he has a jewel shard like we believe, then yes," Kagome said impatiently. "Do you have any idea where is now?"

The hair on the back of Inuyasha's neck stood up straight, distracting him from the conversation as he suddenly sensed a strange demonic presence coming toward them, and fast. Jerking around, Inuyasha saw what appeared to be a dark cloud rushing toward them, but it was moving way too fast and felt way too evil.

"Everyone, lookout!"

The others spun around at Inuyasha's shout, and he heard the guardsmen cry out in fear and alarm at the sight. In only seconds the dark cloud was close enough for them to see the two giant demons it carried.

"The Bull and Dragon of Hell!" Miroku said. "I've only ever seen them in paintings!"

Sango threw her hiraikotsu at them. Spinning through the air, it tore through the dragon demon ripping him in half. Instead of blood pouring from his body, black ink spilled to the ground. As the ink hit the ground, Kagome suddenly stumbled and fell to one knee.

"Kagome!" Inuyasha cried and rushed over to her side. He hadn't seen anything hit her to make her fall, but he was determined that nothing else should get near her. Just as the bull demon reached them to attack, it froze, and then just as suddenly as it had appeared it rushed away, as did the ink from the dragon demon Sango had destroyed. As soon as the immediate threat was gone, Inuyasha dropped down to his knees in front of Kagome. "Kagome, are you alright? What happened?" Her expression was dazed, and she didn't respond to his questions.

"It's the smell," Shippo said, holding his own nose. "Ink has a really strong smell, and that ink was mixed with blood too. Kagome's sense of smell is too sensitive to handle it, so it must have overwhelmed her."

Kagome shook her head, finally coming out of her stupor. "Shippo's right," she said. "I'm not going to be much use against those things if we're cutting them up."

The guardsmen stepped forward to speak to them then, interrupting the conversation. "Please," they said. "After this, the Lord will surely want to speak with you and ask your help dealing with this matter."

As Inuyasha helped Kagome get back to her feet, Miroku turned to the guardsmen. "Then we will gladly speak with him."

As soon as the guardsmen had told their Lord about the demon attack and how Miroku and his group of followers had driven them away, he ordered a feast of thanks be granted to them, as well as a safe place to sleep for the night.

It really irked Inuyasha that they assumed Miroku was their leader, though a more reasonable side of himself pointed out that they had no way of knowing otherwise and it wasn't a bad guess to make really since he'd basically been their spokesman. Even so, Inuyasha would have spoken up to correct their gross misunderstanding if Kagome hadn't elbowed him in the side.

The Lord told them of the artist that had come and tried to sell his services as a great warrior. "I did not believe him, of course," the Lord said. "After all, how could a mere artist possibly be a powerful warrior? But you say he has a jewel shard?"

"We believe that to be the case," Miroku said.

"Then perhaps he really did kill those mercenaries like he claimed," the Lord mused. "Was he using the jewel shard to control demons?"

"Not exactly," Miroku said. "The demons that attacked the gate have only ever been observed in paintings, and they were made of ink. I think it's likely he paints the demons, and then the jewel shard brings them to life."

"Fascinating," the Lord said.

_This guy bothers me,_ Inuyasha thought. He would have expected the Lord to be much more alarmed about the situation, but he seemed to be taking everything in stride. Plus, he had this speculative gleam in his eye that Inuyasha didn't trust.

"Do you know where the artist lives?" Miroku asked. "It would be best if we relieved him of his jewel shard before he can do more harm to others."

"I do not," he said, rather too quickly, Inuyasha thought. "Spend the night here tonight while I have some of my men search for him. Then in the morning he may be dealt with."

"You are most generous," Miroku said. "We thank you for your offer."

A servant showed them to their rooms for the night, one for Kagome, Sango, and Kirara, and one for Inuyasha, Miroku, and Shippo. Once the servant was gone, Kagome and Sango joined them in their room.

"I don't trust him," Sango immediately declared. "He knows where that artist is already."

So Inuyasha wasn't the only one who'd gotten that feeling. "Do you think he's going to do something stupid like try and take the jewel shard for himself?"

"Probably," Miroku said, looking grim for the first time since they'd met him. "And if he does, he's liable to get himself and anyone he takes with him killed. Who knows how many demons the artist may have painted and not brought to life yet?"

"You mean he could be sitting on a whole army of demons?" Shippo asked.

"It's highly likely," Miroku said.

"In that case," Kagome said, "we'll just have to wait for them to head out and then follow."

"That reminds me," Sango said. "Kagome, I've got something for you, hold on a minute." She went back into their room and returned a moment later. Holding out an object for Kagome she said, "Take this. It's my gas mask. Hopefully it'll filter out the smell of the ink enough that it won't stun you like it did earlier."

"I appreciate it," Kagome said accepting the mask from her.

All that was left to do at that point was waiting for the Lord and his men to make their move, though while they waited Sango took the time to change into her slayer uniform. It wasn't very long at all before Kagome heard a bunch of horses leaving through the front gate.

Sneaking out wasn't difficult at all since the Lord had taken most of his warriors with him, and despite the fact that it was night by now they didn't have any difficulty following the trail left by the horses. As they followed, Kagome went ahead and tied on the gas mask in preparation for the upcoming fight.

Inuyasha's nerves were on edge as he thought about the upcoming battle. _Are we really going to have to face a whole army of ink demons?_ _How are we going to handle that?_ At least they didn't seem to be too strong, given Sango's attack had slain that dragon demon in one blow. But even if they weren't strong, large enough numbers would overwhelm Inuyasha and his friends.

Screams cut through the air, distracting Inuyasha from his thoughts. Running forward, they topped a small hill and found the Lord's warriors running for their lives, while the Lord himself tried to restore order from atop his horse. A horde of demons was emerging from a lone, ramshackle hut, their numbers easily a hundred or more.

_There's no way we can kill that many_.

But they had to do _something_.

"Stay behind me!" Miroku shouted as he continued to rush forward.

"What do you think you're doing, stupid?" Inuyasha yelled after him.

As soon as Miroku was past the last of the warriors, he held up his right hand, calling out, "Wind tunnel!" And just liked that there was a fierce wind that dragged everything in front of him down to his hand where it seemed to just vanish.

_It's like a black hole! He's got a freaking black hole in his right hand!_

In a matter of seconds the horde of demons was no more, and Miroku closed his hand into a fist. The winds vanished, and Miroku fell to one knee. Inuyasha and the others moved toward him. "Are you alright?" Sango asked.

"I'll be fine," he replied, his voice tense. "I've never absorbed that many demons at once before. I just need a moment."

"When this is over we're going to have a talk about how you got that in your hand," Inuyasha said.

Miroku chuckled. "Very well. But we should finish this up first."

The hut exploded then, to reveal a gigantic snake demon that was easily the size of Inuyasha's house. Riding on top of it was a little man that must have been the artist. "You'll never take it!" he shrieked. "You'll never take it away from me!"

"Oh no you don't!" Sango said, throwing her hiraikotsu. Though the snake was bigger than the demons from earlier, it didn't appear to be any more durable as the weapon cut its head clean off, spilling ink all over the ground. With a shriek, the artist toppled down into the pool of ink.

"Inuyasha, where's the jewel shard?" Kagome demanded, her sword in her hand.

Focusing in the artist who was trying to scramble to his feet in the slick liquid, Inuyasha spotted a faint pink glow. "There, in his ink canister!"

Kagome lunged forward and the artist screamed again as her sword swung toward him. The blade never touched him, but she sliced cleanly through the bamboo canister that housed his jewel shard.

"No!" the artist screamed. "My ink! You can't take it from me!"

Kagome glared down at him. "Give it up," she said. "This fight is over."

He didn't seem to hear her speaking. "No," he said. "I can't lose it; I can't!" Suddenly he lunged for a sword that had been dropped by one of the warriors when they were fleeing, but instead of trying to attack Kagome he sliced deeply into his own arm. "You need blood!" he cried. "You need blood, my ink, so take mine and serve me still!"

"No, don't!" Kagome cried, but it was too late for anyone to do anything. The ink surged from the ground and surrounded the artist. It took only second for him to start screaming in pain as the ink drained the blood from his body. When it finished, it fell to the ground again, as did the artist's body, or the withered husk that was left of it anyway.


	18. Chapter 18

Naraku and Sesshomaru Join Forces (Almost)

In the quiet that followed the artist's death, Sango said, "That's an awful way for anyone to go."

The jewel shard was in that mess of ink and blood surrounding the artist's corpse, so as much as Inuyasha would have preferred not to go anywhere near it, he did walk up to the edge and pluck the jewel shard out of the mess.

"You purified it," Miroku said in astonishment. "That jewel shard was severely tainted."

Inuyasha shrugged as he added it to the small jar that housed their collection. "Yeah, well, that's my job, keeping the jewel pure."

"So," Shippo piped up, "should we head back to the castle for the rest of the night?"

"Probably not," Miroku said. "This situation is hardly our fault, but even so I doubt the local Lord will be happy to see us again."

"Good thing we didn't leave our stuff there," Inuyasha said to himself.

No one particularly wanted to camp close to this spot either, so they walked for about half an hour before finding an acceptable campsite. When they settled down, Inuyasha at least still felt pretty wide awake. He decided to use this time to go ahead and get more answers from Miroku. "So, Miroku, what was up with your hand?" he asked.

"Ah," Miroku said. "That goes back to my grandfather as well, and his hunt of Naraku. I did mention that every time my grandfather fought Naraku, he took a different form, didn't I? Well, the last time my grandfather fought him, Naraku took the guise of a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, my grandfather had a certain weakness for beautiful women."

"So he was a pervert," Inuyasha said.

"Not the word I would choose, but essentially," Miroku conceded. "Because of this, Naraku managed to pierce through my grandfather's hand with one of his own sutras, causing the wind tunnel to form. Over the years the wind tunnel would slowly expand, eventually consuming its bearer and the curse is passed down to each generation."

"So that's why you're after Naraku," Kagome said. "It isn't just a family quest; it's a way to get rid of your curse."

"I guess we'll be helping you with that," Sango said. "After all, we're sure to run into Naraku as we go after the jewel shards."

"Do you really wish to help me, dear Sango?" Miroku asked, taking one of her hands and holding it between both of his, eliciting a wary look from Sango.

"Maybe," she said.

"If you truly wish to help me, then please, consider bearing my son," Miroku said. "If something should happen to me before Naraku is slain, I would like my son to continue the quest."

Everyone stared at Miroku in shock. Had he really just propositioned a woman he'd known for less than twenty four hours?

Without a word, Sango tugged her hand out of Miroku's grip. Then she reeled back and slapped him hard across the face. "You're on your own, pervert," she snapped, and then stalked off to another part of the camp, her back stiff with indignation.

Inuyasha couldn't help but snicker as Miroku gingerly touched the side of his face. Shippo said, "I guess your grandfather isn't the only pervert in your family."

"I am not!" Miroku protested.

"Yeah, you kind of are," Kagome said.

Miroku grumbled something about unjust accusations, and everyone settled down to sleep for the night.

* * *

Anger had become Sesshomaru's constant companion. It burned in him, smoldering like coals in a banked fire, ready to flare up again at the slightest provocation. Sesshomaru was no stranger to anger, but its companion was a new one for him.

Humiliation.

How many decades had it been since anyone or anything had managed to humiliate him? And yet Kagome's human, that Inuyasha, had managed to more thoroughly humiliate Sesshomaru than perhaps anyone else had ever managed.

He'd tried everything he could think of to get rid of that cursed necklace, but nothing worked. His acid wouldn't melt it, his claws couldn't cut it, and his strength wasn't enough to break it. The only thing he hadn't tried was asking for help, and his damaged pride wouldn't allow him to admit his shame to anyone, much less shame himself further by asking for assistance.

_I will kill him for doing this to me._

Killing Inuyasha would satisfy Sesshomaru's need for revenge, and he was certain would render the necklace powerless. The only question was how to manage the deed. As galling as it was to admit, a frontal assault was unlikely to be successful, given Inuyasha's current advantage over him. Really, Sesshomaru's best chance at killing Inuyasha was a long distance assassination, but it rubbed his fur the wrong way to resort to that. He'd never had to do so before in his life. Sesshomaru was not one to skulk about in the shadows, hoping to kill his enemies undetected. Someone of his caliber and strength faced enemies head on and mercilessly destroyed them.

_But as long as I am bound by this necklace, I cannot go after the Tetsusaiga._

His father's powerful fang should be his, not that half breed's. Kagome and Inuyasha didn't know it, but Sesshomaru had remained close enough to see whether or not she would be successful in gaining the sword for herself, and it only served to infuriate him still further when he'd seen that she was.

_How like Father, making it so only a human could draw the sword,_ Sesshomaru thought in disgust. But the Tetsusaiga was drawn now, and in Kagome's possession. It rightfully belonged to Sesshomaru, but he couldn't risk attacking Kagome so long as Inuyasha was around.

"Erm, Lord Sesshomaru?" Jaken spoke up hesitantly. He had been quieter than usual of late due to Sesshomaru's dark mood. Sesshomaru didn't bother to acknowledge the inquiry, but his lack of a negative response must have been all the encouragement Jaken needed to continue. "Where are we going?" he asked. "I had thought you would have wished to have slain that human who bound you by now."

Jaken's casual mention of this insult to Sesshomaru's person was too much to bear. Sesshomaru glared down at his small retainer, and seeing his displeasure, Jaken immediately prostrated himself on the ground. "Forgive me, my Lord! I shouldn't have mentioned it!"

Before Sesshomaru could quite make up his mind about whether or not he should attempt a new record for how far he could kick Jaken, a strange voice spoke up. "Perhaps I could be of assistance to you, Lord Sesshomaru."

Sesshomaru switched his glare to the newcomer, a demon of some kind in a white baboon pelt. He hadn't sensed his approach, which could be because Sesshomaru had been distracted, but…no, even right in front of Sesshomaru he had a presence that could barely be felt.

_How irritating._

"Who are you?" Sesshomaru demanded.

"I am one who disdains Kagome and Inuyasha as much as you do," he said. Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed. This fool dared to think he knew how Sesshomaru felt about anything? "Because of this, I have a proposition for you." He held out a hand and sitting in his palm was a glittering pink jewel shard. Sesshomaru had heard the jewel had been broken, but hadn't cared to seek it out. He had always disdained those who needed outside sources to enhance their abilities. "I will loan you this jewel shard," the demon said. "It will render the necklace Inuyasha cursed you with useless, and you will easily be able to destroy him and claim Tetsusaiga as your own."

A part of Sesshomaru was tempted to accept the deal. Killing Inuyasha would be a moment to savor, but Sesshomaru couldn't stand the thought of being forced to borrow someone else's power to do so. Aside from that, it was clear that this demon intended to use Sesshomaru as a tool to exact revenge for whatever Kagome and Inuyasha had done to him. Under other circumstances, Sesshomaru may have borne this insult in order to reach his own goals. But circumstances were not different, and Sesshomaru's pride had taken far too much damage to accommodate this new insult.

But there was no need to make that immediately clear. Sesshomaru still didn't know who this demon was, and it bothered him that he seemed to know so much about Sesshomaru's activities. No one should be aware of the fact that Inuyasha had bound him, and he sincerely doubted that Kagome would have run into anyone that would have recognized the Tetsusaiga for what it was. The only way this demon could know about any of these things was if he'd been watching them, though whether he'd been watching Sesshomaru or Kagome and her human was unclear at the moment. Either way, Sesshomaru didn't like it, and he didn't trust this strange demon for a second.

"I would know the name of the one who would make a pact with me," Sesshomaru said.

"Of course," the demon said. "Forgive me for not introducing myself earlier. I am the one called Naraku."

Sesshomaru had never heard the name before. Naraku couldn't be a prominent demon then, though that didn't necessarily mean he wasn't a powerful one.

_Though if he isn't willing to fight a half breed like Kagome face to face, then he is likely a coward or too weak to do so._

Those who were simply weak were beneath Sesshomaru's notice, but cowards earned his disdain. "You seem to be aware of my reasons for disliking Kagome and Inuyasha," Sesshomaru said. "What reason do you have to wish them dead?"

"My reasons are my own," Naraku replied, and Sesshomaru could tell the other demon wasn't pleased about being questioned.

"How dare you refuse to answer a question put to you by Lord Sesshomaru!" railed Jaken, waving the Staff of Two Heads about with all the menace he could muster.

"Jaken," Sesshomaru said, and his retainer cringed into silence again. To Naraku, Sesshomaru said, "If you wish to see them dead, you will have to do it yourself. I am no one's lackey."

Naraku withdrew the hand holding the jewel shard. "Very well. If that is your decision, then I will take my leave." He faded back into the trees, and moment later his presence was gone, even though Sesshomaru was actively keeping his awareness open looking for him.

"The nerve of that Naraku," Jaken grumbled. He continued on about the awfulness of him daring to impose on Sesshomaru's person in such a manner, but Sesshomaru tuned him out so he could think.

Sesshomaru doubted that Naraku would attack Kagome and Inuyasha himself, not if he was actively searching for someone else to do the work for him. But it wouldn't be terribly hard for him to find someone willing, not if Naraku was handing out jewel shards in order for it to happen.

_What if he finds someone capable of doing it?_

In a way, it would solve some of his problems. If Inuyasha was dead then he wouldn't have to worry about the necklace anymore, and if someone else dared to try and claim the Tetsusaiga, Sesshomaru didn't imagine it would be very difficult to retrieve it from them. But it also felt like he'd be standing back and letting someone else do his work for him, letting someone else _rescue_ him even if it was only a side effect of their actions, and that wasn't Sesshomaru's style.

Sesshomaru stopped walking and his frown deepened as the realization hit him.

_I cannot allow someone else to kill Kagome and Inuyasha_.

Their deaths had to come by his hands and his hands alone in order to avoid ending up in someone else's debt, a state that Sesshomaru would not allow himself to come to. If this meant Sesshomaru had to rescue them in order to kill them himself later, well.

_So be it._

"Lord Sesshomaru, where are we going now?" Jaken asked as Sesshomaru suddenly changed direction.

Concentrating on the task at hand, Sesshomaru didn't bother to answer him. Naraku may have the ability to hide his presence better than most could, but like all living creatures he did have a scent, and that he couldn't disguise. As a dog demon, Sesshomaru was an unparalleled tracker when he wished to be. Following Naraku to whoever he chose to enlist to kill Kagome and Inuyasha wouldn't be difficult, and then it was only a matter of seeing that the two survived their encounter.

* * *

Naraku had not been expecting Sesshomaru to turn down his offer. He had been certain that Sesshomaru would be willing to do anything to get vengeance on Kagome and Inuyasha, no matter what it was. It would seem that he had miscalculated.

_No matter. There are others who hate them as well, even if Kagome and Inuyasha aren't aware of their existence. If Sesshomaru will not help me, then this one will._

Even at his fastest, it took Naraku several hours to make it to the lair of the ogress, Urasue. The ogress may be dead, but she had left behind another who would only be too willing to take vengeance for her, if he only knew where to direct that vengeance.

Naraku arrived at her lair and found Kawaramaru, the human general that Urasue had revived, shouting in frustration at the ogress's kiln. It seemed he was attempting to create more of the clay soldiers that Urasue had used, but being a general and not a potter he wasn't having any luck.

"It would seem you could use some help," Naraku said and the undead general whirled on him.

"Who are you?" he demanded. "Why are you here?"

Naraku bowed, pretending subservience, and said, "I am only here to aid you, for you see, I can give you the names of those that slew your mother and sister."

That really got Kawaramaru's attention. "Who was it?" he demanded.

"They fell at the hands of a half breed called Kagome and her human companion, Inuyasha," Naraku said. "If you wish, I can tell you how to find them."

Kawaramaru's beady black eyes narrowed. "And what do you get out of helping me like this?"

It would seem he wasn't a complete fool after all. That was good; he would need at least some wits about him in order to kill Kagome and Inuyasha. "I bear my own grudge against them," Naraku answered. "All I wish out of this is the satisfaction of their deaths. To that end, I am willing to loan you this to assist you." Naraku held out the fragment of the jewel shard that he had offered to Sesshomaru and saw a greedy light shine in Kawaramaru's eyes. It was clear that the general wouldn't even consider telling him no.

"It's a deal," Kawaramaru said reaching out and taking the jewel. "Where do I find them?"

Naraku told him. "One more moment," he said before Kawaramaru could leave. He held out a hive of the saimyosho. "You will find this most useful, I believe."

* * *

The rising sun woke Inuyasha, though he wouldn't have minded sleeping in a bit longer. But the others were getting up and moving about, and not wanting to seem lazy, Inuyasha got up as well.

As they were packing up camp, Kagome spoke to Miroku. "So what are you planning to do now?" she asked.

"I was hoping that you would allow me to travel with you," Miroku said. "After all, it would seem we have similar goals, and so working together would probably be expedient."

Sango glared at him, apparently not over what he'd said to her the night before. "And why would we want you traveling with us?"

"Well," Miroku said, "aside from getting to enjoy my charming personality, I'm willing to hand over the three jewel shards in my possession if you'll allow me to accompany you."

"Pretty sure we could just take those from you," Inuyasha said.

Miroku seemed more amused by Inuyasha's words than anything else, which was really annoying. "Do you think so?" Miroku asked. "Perhaps working together you could, but I assure you, it wouldn't be easy."

"You think you're that tough?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Well he did kill a hundred demons by himself last night," Shippo pointed out.

Inuyasha glared down at him. "Whose side are you on?"

Shippo sighed. "Do there have to be sides already?"

"We'll put it to a vote," Kagome said, talking over their argument. "I for one am for Miroku joining us."

"I suppose he'll have his uses," Sango said.

"I vote for it too," Shippo said, but not without a guilty glance in Inuyasha's direction.

Inuyasha glared at them all, seeing that he was outnumbered. "Fine," he snapped. "He can come with us."

"How can I refuse your gracious invitation?" Miroku asked in a dry tone of voice. Inuyasha glared at him, deeply wishing he could wipe that smirk off of Miroku's face, but punching their newest companion in the face probably wouldn't be a way to win him points with anyone.

Although, Sango might not mind, but Kagome would definitely get mad at him. Inuyasha didn't want to get into another argument with her after so recently making up from their other one.

Reaching into a pocket within his robe, Miroku pulled out the jewel shards and handed them over to Inuyasha, who then put them in the jar with the other shards that they had collected that he kept in his pants pocket.

"Well then, let's be off," Miroku said.

_Who died and left you in charge?_ Inuyasha wondered.

They hadn't been traveling more than an hour when Kagome's head tilted back suddenly and she sniffed the air.

"Do you smell something?" Sango asked.

"Yeah," Kagome said. "Medicinal herbs like the ones Urasue used and graveyard soil. It smells like Enju."

"But they're dead," Inuyasha protested. "How can you smell them?"

Kagome frowned. "I don't know."

"Who are Urasue and Enju?" Miroku asked.

"Urasue was an ogress we fought recently," Shippo informed him. "Enju was a woman that Urasue revived, and we had to put her to rest again, because her new body had to absorb the souls of dead women to remain animated."

"I see," Miroku said. He glanced over at everyone else. "Is there any reason for you to believe that this Enju woman was the only person Urasue ever revived?"

Inuyasha, Sango, and Kagome looked at each other. "I guess not," Kagome said. "We just sort of assumed she was."

"But even if she did revive others, why would they be searching us out?" Inuyasha asked.

"I think we're about to find out," Sango said, pointing. They could now see the approach of a man on horseback, who was followed by some of those clay soldiers that they had fought before. Some of them must have been left over from the fight with Urasue. As the man approached, Inuyasha noticed the glow of a jewel shard coming from his chest.

"He has a jewel shard," Inuyasha warned them. People with jewel shards usually didn't mean good news for them.

When the man was within speaking distance from them, he brought his horse to a stop. "Which among you are the ones known as Kagome and Inuyasha?" he demanded.

_Well, that can't be a good sign._

Kagome stepped forward, one hand on her sword. "I am Kagome."

Inuyasha's grip on his staff tightened as he said, "And I'm Inuyasha. What do you want with us?"

"So you two are the ones responsible for the death of my mother and sister!" the man declared.

"What?" Inuyasha asked blankly. "What are you talking about?"

The man glared down at him. "I am Kawaramaru, son of Urasue, and brother of Enju. Do you deny that their deaths are your responsibility?"

Did this guy really consider Urasue and Enju to be his family? Guilt tugged at Inuyasha, but they hadn't really had a choice about it; they'd had to kill Urasue and Enju, just as they were now going to have to kill Kawaramaru.

"We don't deny it," Kagome said.

"Then I shall slay you, and once I have done that, I will fulfill Mother's wish of ruling this country," Kawaramaru declared. Pointing his sword at them, he called out, "Attack, my clay soldiers!"

The soldiers, roughly twenty or so, swarmed them. Inuyasha wasn't sure how his staff would hold up against them, but he wasn't likely to have much luck going barehanded, so he made use of it. To his surprise, his staff shattered the clay warriors as easily as Sango's hiraikotsu or Kagome's claws. Then he remembered how Kaede had had him infuse the staff with his own spiritual power, and realized that that must have something to do with it. He was somewhat annoyed to notice that Miroku seemed to be an expert when it came to fighting with his staff, and his technique was clearly superior to Inuyasha's own.

Though the clay warriors outnumbered them, they weren't very strong, and so it didn't take all that much time to destroy them. But before they could really regroup and focus on the threat that Kawaramaru would present, fireballs rained down on them, filling the air with a choking smoke. Dodging the fireballs forced Inuyasha back and farther away from the others, except for Shippo, who at some point during this mess had jumped up to Inuyasha's shoulder and was clinging for dear life. The fireballs stopped falling, but sections of the ground were still burning, and thanks to the smoke Inuyasha was still essentially blind.

He heard Miroku call out, "Wind tunnel!" and the smoke began to clear, pulled into the void of Miroku's hand. Now that Inuyasha could see, he knew that Miroku had the wind tunnel pointed at Kawaramaru. As the winds dragged him forward, the man tossed something in the air, and then suddenly the sky was filled with what appeared to be hornets the size of house cats that rushed forward into Miroku's hand. Something was wrong with the sight, and it took Inuyasha a second to realize what. The demon hornets, or whatever they were, weren't being dragged into Miroku's wind tunnel, but were purposefully flying into it.

_That can't be good._

It seemed it wasn't, because moments later Miroku stiffened and covered his hand up, cutting off the wind tunnel. Swaying slightly, Miroku fell down to one knee, and Kawaramaru laughed.

"It would seem that Naraku was telling the truth when he said the saimyosho were poisonous to you," Kawaramaru said.

"Naraku?" Kagome said. "Did he put you up to this?"

"He told me who was responsible for killing my mother and sister, if that's what you mean," Kawaramaru said. "And he gave me the tools to defeat you!" Kawaramaru jumped off his horse at Kagome, his suddenly flaming sword held high. Kagome managed to draw that Tetsusaiga just in time to block his strike, but Kawaramaru pressed forward relentlessly, his skill with the blade obvious while Kagome was hard pressed to keep up with him.

"They're too close to each other, I can't get a shot in," Sango said, her voice laced with frustration. Since there was nothing they could do for Kagome at the moment, Inuyasha rushed over to Miroku to make sure he wasn't dying or something.

"Are you going to be okay?" he asked.

"I think so," Miroku said, though he held the wrist of his right hand tightly and his voice was tense with pain. "But I'll be no use for the rest of this fight."

In that case, they needed to get him out of the line of fire. Sango seemed to come to the same conclusion, because she said, "Kirara!" The cat demon changed into her larger form, and between the two of them, Inuyasha and Sango managed to get Miroku on her back, and then Inuyasha set Shippo up there as well.

"Keep an eye on Miroku, okay?" Inuyasha said as he settled the fox demon on Kirara's back.

Shippo nodded. "I will!"

"Keep them out of the way," Sango ordered Kirara, and the cat demon obediently took off.

Now that Shippo and Miroku were out of immediate danger, Sango and Inuyasha were able to turn their attention back to the fight between Kagome and Kawaramaru. It seemed that so far Kagome had been able to avoid injury, but so had Kawaramaru. They were still too close together for Sango to get a shot in with her hiraikotsu, and since she was wearing her kimono at the moment and not her armor, she was in no position to join the fight with her sword. Inuyasha itched to jump in the fight and help, but he hesitated. Neither he nor Kagome were practiced in attacking the same opponent together, and there was a very real chance that by jumping in he could make the situation worse instead of helping.

Kawaramaru seemed to realize that he wasn't getting anywhere just trading blows with the sword, and holding out one hand in front of him and sent a wave of fire directly at her face. Instinctively Kagome raised one arm to shield her face, but in doing so the hand holding her sword dropped too low, and Inuyasha saw what was coming.

"Kagome, look out!" he yelled, but she didn't react in time and Kawaramaru's sword plunged through her stomach.

Time seemed to freeze in that moment and that image burned itself into Inuyasha's brain. Kawaramaru's ugly face was gloating over Kagome, whose gold eyes were wide with shock and pain. Several inches of Kawaramaru's sword protruded from her back, her blood dripping off the end of the blade and onto the scorched ground. Kawaramaru yanked the blade out of her, causing her body to jerk and then fall to her knees, supported only by her grip on the Tetsusaiga. Inuyasha started running forward as Kawaramaru lifted his sword high for a finishing blow, but he knew he'd never make it in time to block it.

Something rushed past Inuyasha, and there was a clash of metal as Kawaramaru's sword was blocked by another sword held by Sesshomaru of all people. The sight of Kagome's half-brother stunned Inuyasha so much that he actually came to a halt and stared. Sesshomaru shoved Kawaramaru back several steps and then coolly sheathed his sword.

"What are you doing here?" Inuyasha blurted out. The last time he'd seen Sesshomaru, the dog demon had sworn to kill him. Sesshomaru spared him a look so filled with venom that he probably should have dropped dead on the spot, but he didn't answer. Instead, that annoying toad answered for him as he waddled up to the battlefield.

"Obviously Lord Sesshomaru is saving your undeserving lives," he snapped. "You could show some gratitude."

Inuyasha would consider thanking him if he didn't turn around and try to kill them once Kawaramaru was taken care of, though he couldn't for the life of him understand why Sesshomaru would help them. After all, he had tried to kill Kagome before.

_Kagome!_

Inuyasha and Sango rushed to her side. She had one arm wrapped around her middle, the other gripping the hilt of the Tetsusaiga which she had buried point down in the ground to use as a support to keep from completely collapsing.

"I'll live," she said before either of them could voice words of concern.

"You'd better," Sesshomaru said without looking back at them. "It is unacceptable for you to die at anyone's hands other than my own."

Inuyasha would have sat him for that, if he hadn't been the only thing standing between Kawaramaru and a badly injured Kagome.

"This has nothing to do with you," Kawaramaru said. "But if you get in my way I won't hesitate to kill you!"

"Do you think you can?" Sesshomaru asked. His fingertips glowed, and with a graceful sweep of his arm his whip lashed out. The attack came so quickly that Kawaramaru didn't have a chance to dodge, and his head rolled back off his shoulders and fell to the ground with a sickening thump. Before his body could follow, the saimyosho that were left swarmed down and removed the jewel shard from his body before flying off with it, likely back to Naraku.

Sesshomaru half turned then, glaring down at them. Inuyasha tensed as he realized there was no longer anything holding Sesshomaru back from attacking them, but he didn't make any move toward them at all. His gaze drifted over to the Tetsusaiga, and Kagome's grip on it tightened in response. "You are not worthy of that sword," Sesshomaru said. "Especially if you could not defeat something as pathetic as that."

Using the sword for support, Kagome managed to push herself up into a standing position. "Are you going to try and take it from me?" Kagome asked.

Sesshomaru glared at her for a moment longer before turning on his heel and walking away. "Not today."

Inuyasha was surprised by this; now seemed like the perfect moment for Sesshomaru to try and kill them and steal the sword from Kagome. After all, Kagome was badly injured. Or was that why Sesshomaru walked away now? Was he only willing to fight Kagome if she was at the top of her game? That almost seemed caring, in a really twisted sort of way.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru," Kagome called after him.

Sesshomaru didn't hesitate or look back as he replied, "If you think I helped you out of a sense of affection or familial duty, you're a bigger fool than I took you for." Then he was gone, his toad lackey close behind.

As soon as Sesshomaru vanished from sight Kagome sagged, and Inuyasha had to move quickly to keep her from falling to the ground. Sango supported her from the other side and said, "Come on. We need to get to the others and get your wounds treated."

"I'll be fine," Kagome said. "I won't die from this."

"Doesn't mean we're just going to let you bleed," Inuyasha said, trying not to show how much he wanted to freak out at the moment now that all other potential threats were gone.

Kagome had been _impaled_ through the stomach. A part of him couldn't believe she wasn't dead already, even if she did insist she would be fine.

"We need to check on Miroku too," Sango said. "I'm not sure how badly the poison of the saimyosho will affect him."

For the first time in his life, Inuyasha really wished he knew something about tending injuries.

_Maybe I should add learning first aid to my list of things to do in the future. It definitely couldn't hurt to know._

It didn't take them too long to reach the others. Kirara had hidden them in a nearby copse of trees. Miroku sat at the base of a tree, seemingly unconscious. Shippo, his green eyes wide with worry, bounded toward them. "Kagome, are you alright?"

"I'll be fine," she said. "I just need to rest."

Sango and Inuyasha sat her down against a tree. "I'll handle bandaging her," Sango said. "You go check on Miroku."

Inuyasha was about to protest that distribution of duties until he realized that in order for Kagome's stomach to be tended to, she'd need to remove her top. He could feel his face heating up at the thought as he turned away. "Fine." He walked over to Miroku and poked him. "Hey, are you still alive?"

"Given the amount of pain I feel, I imagine so," Miroku said without opening his eyes.

"Anything I can do for you?" Inuyasha asked.

Miroku shook his head. "Doubtful. I think I just have to wait for the poison to work itself out of my system. What happened to Kagome? She's injured?"

That horrible moment when Kawaramaru had stabbed her flashed through his mind again. "Kawaramaru managed to stab her in the stomach, but she says she'll be fine."

Miroku nodded. "Then she probably will be. Even half demons have superior healing abilities to us humans. Now if you don't mind, I think I'm going to try and sleep this off."

"Yeah sure, go ahead," Inuyasha said.

Sango walked over to them, and Inuyasha looked behind her to see Kagome was laying back and seemed to be drifting off to sleep as well. "They both need rest, so I don't think we'll be traveling anymore today," Sango said.

Inuyasha nodded. He'd figured as much. "So, I guess we've got guard duty then?"

Sango nodded. "Do you want first watch, or should I take it?"

"You go ahead," Inuyasha said.

"Okay then," Sango said. "Kirara, come on."

Once they left, it was only Inuyasha and Shippo left in the camp with Miroku and Kagome. Inuyasha walked over to Kagome to check on her. She was truly passed out, but even in sleep her face seemed to wear an expression of pain. Gently, Inuyasha reached down and lightly brushed the tips of his fingers against her cheek.

_You'd better be telling the truth when you say you'll get better, Kagome. Don't you dare die on me. Don't you dare._


	19. Chapter 19

Despicable Villain! The Mystery of Onigumo!

Miroku and Kagome slept most of the day while Sango and Inuyasha spent most of their time standing guard against any other unexpected attacks. Luckily, the rest of the day passed peacefully enough, and Miroku woke as they were preparing dinner.

"Feeling better?" Sango asked him.

"Much," he replied. "What happened after I left the battlefield? I know Kagome was injured somehow, and obviously we must have defeated Kawaramaru, but I'd like details."

Over dinner, Sango and Inuyasha filled Miroku in on what had happened after he left. This of course also required an explanation of who Sesshomaru was, and why he didn't like Kagome or Inuyasha, because Miroku didn't know those details either. Sango hadn't known how Inuyasha had bound Sesshomaru with the beads Kaede had given him, so she found that part of the story interesting.

"That explains why he didn't try to attack us," Sango said. "But I'm still not sure why he helped in the first place. After all, your death, Inuyasha, could only benefit him since you're the one who bound him, and from what you've told us, it doesn't sound as if he should care if Kagome was killed."

"Yeah, I don't really get it either," Inuyasha admitted.

"Didn't you say he said it was unacceptable for anyone other than himself to kill Kagome?" Miroku asked.

"Yeah, he did," Inuyasha said.

"Well then, perhaps that's just it," Miroku said. "He wants to kill the two of you himself, so he won't let anyone else do it."

"But why would it be an issue for him if someone else did it?" Inuyasha asked. "Not that I'm complaining about his help. I just don't get it."

"I imagine you damaged his pride quite a bit when you defeated him before," Miroku said. "Perhaps he feels the only way to repair his pride is to be the one who kills you. Of course, this is only speculation. I could be wrong."

From what little Inuyasha knew of Sesshomaru, Miroku's reasoning sounded right. And that was annoying. He didn't know why it was annoying, but for some reason Miroku's whole existence annoyed Inuyasha. This wasn't entirely fair, Inuyasha knew, but something about him rubbed Inuyasha the wrong way.

"We should take turns standing guard tonight," Sango said. "Normally I'd trust Kagome to notice anything approaching long before the rest of us, but she probably won't be up for that tonight."

Inuyasha didn't like the reminder of Kagome's injuries, though the thought of them had never been very far from his mind today. A part of him wished he could get her to the future and to a hospital for some real medical treatment. Of course, since she wasn't completely human, even if he could get her to a hospital, he probably shouldn't. "Is she really going to be okay without a healer?" he couldn't help but ask.

When Sango looked over at him, her expression softened just a little into a look Inuyasha didn't understand and therefore didn't appreciate. "She'll be fine," Sango said in a voice that matched her expression, and it hit Inuyasha suddenly that she was attempting to comfort him so he wouldn't worry. "As a rule, demons are hard to kill, and even if she's only a half demon, Kagome's harder to kill than most. She could have probably handled worse injuries than that and made a full recovery. I expect she'll be almost completely better by tomorrow."

"Good," Inuyasha said while looking away. He didn't like being worried, and he liked it even less that his worries were so obvious. Shippo crawled into his lap, and he absentmindedly patted the fox demon's head.

"I don't mind standing guard first," Miroku said, deftly changing the subject to safer topics. Had the act been done by someone else, like Hojo, Inuyasha would have appreciated it. Coming from Miroku, he didn't. "Since I've rested all day I don't feel tired at all and wouldn't likely fall asleep soon anyway."

"I'll take the second watch then," Sango said. "Inuyasha, I'll wake you in the morning when it's your turn."

"Sounds good to me," Inuyasha said. If he was going to be getting up early, he decided he may as well turn in. The evening was warm tonight, so instead of sleeping wrapped up in his sleeping bag as he usually would, Inuyasha just spread it out on the ground and settled down on top of it. Shippo curled into his side, and it wasn't long before Inuyasha drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It didn't seem like it had been long at all before Sango was gently shaking him awake. "Inuyasha," she said softly, "it's your turn to take watch."

"I'm up, I'm up," Inuyasha mumbled, sitting up to prove his words. Apparently satisfied that he was indeed up, or maybe just really sleepy, Sango crossed to the other side of their little camp where Kirara was stretched out in her larger form and settled down to sleep leaning against her. Careful not to disturb Shippo, Inuyasha got up and stretched before walking to the edge of the camp.

Keeping watch was a rather dull business, but Inuyasha supposed it could be worse. After all, it could be raining instead of being a brilliantly clear night. Or early morning, whatever one wanted to call it.

_It's amazing how many stars I can see,_ Inuyasha thought looking up at the sky. He never saw that many stars at home; too much light from the city. Here in the past, there was nothing to impede his view, and for the first time Inuyasha could see how the stars could be an inspiration to artists. But thinking of artists made Inuyasha think of corpses drained of their blood, and he hastily looked away from the sky.

Inuyasha decided to do a lap around the camp to distract himself. He was supposed to be on the lookout for potential dangers, not thinking about other stuff. He didn't notice any dangers, but walking around their camp did help him focus on his task.

Time dragged on, and eventually the sun rose. With the dawn the others began stirring in the camp. Most importantly, to Inuyasha's way of thinking, Kagome woke up. When he saw her pushing herself up into a sitting position, he rushed over to her side. "Hey, be careful. Maybe you should keep lying down."

Kagome looked up at him and smiled. "It's okay, Inuyasha. I'm not fully recovered, but I won't make myself worse my getting up or walking around."

Inuyasha still found it hard to believe that she could recover so quickly from a wound that would have likely killed any human, and he almost wanted to insist she stay where she was anyway. But he resisted the temptation, only cautioning, "Just be careful."

Sango took it upon herself to make breakfast for them all. While she did so, she asked, "Should we start heading back to the village? It will take us longer to get back than it did to get here since we won't be able to use Kirara to fly, and Inuyasha I know you need to go back home eventually."

Inuyasha had to pause for a moment to figure out what day it was. He'd been suspended on Thursday, so that made today…Sunday. As in, the day before he was supposed to be back at school, and if he wasn't in school tomorrow, he didn't even want to think about what Ms. Sato might do.

_Except I won't be able to make it back home tonight, because we won't be able to fly on Kirara. Great._

"Yeah, getting back home would be good," Inuyasha said.

"What do you have to do at your home that is more important than searching for jewel shards?" Miroku asked.

"Oh, that's right, you don't know," Shippo said accepting the food that Sango gave him.

"It's a long story," Inuyasha said.

"It also explains how we all ended up together as a group, which you also wanted to hear," Kagome said. "Inuyasha can explain it while we travel."

"You'll probably find it hard to believe," Shippo said.

"Anyone would find it hard to believe," Sango said. "I mean, it should be impossible."

Miroku glanced between them all, his expression suggesting he was trying to decide if they were playing a joke on him or not. "Now I'm really curious," he said.

When they finished eating they broke camp. Before they set off walking, Sango said, "Kagome, Miroku, are you two well enough to walk, or would you rather ride Kirara?"

"I'm completely recovered," Miroku assured her. "But I am grateful for your concern."

"I'm fine," Kagome said. "I won't be doing any sprints today, but I can walk."

As they set out, Miroku said, "So, Inuyasha, are you going to tell me your story, or just keep hinting at it?"

Inuyasha wondered a moment how many times he was going to have to do this, but he launched into the story of how he'd been dragged into the past and everything that had happened afterwards. Of course it was an abbreviated version, and every so often one of the others would jump in to add to what Inuyasha was saying, much to his annoyance.

When he'd finally finished, he looked over to Miroku to see what the monk thought of it all. Miroku wore a contemplative expression. "Well, I can see why they said it would be a difficult story to believe. You're truly from five hundred years in the future?"

"Yep," Inuyasha said.

"If that's so, do you think you could find some kind of historical records that would tell you how to find the jewel shards?" Miroku asked.

Inuyasha blinked. That idea had never even occurred to him, but Miroku, who'd probably never even thought of time travel before, thought of it, which was really irritating. "Um, I doubt it. In my time, most people believe that demons are just a myth, so I doubt there are any accurate records of jewel shards."

Miroku looked genuinely surprised. "Truly? What could happen to demons between now and your time to make people no longer believe in demons?"

"No idea," Inuyasha said. "But I've seen a total of two demons in the future, and I didn't run into them until after I came here for the first time."

"Interesting," Miroku said. "But if you saw two demons, it stands to reason there should be more, correct? Perhaps they are merely avoiding humans."

"But why would demons avoid humans?" Inuyasha asked.

"It's actually not that much of a stretch," Sango said. "Most demons _do_ avoid humans, for a lot of different reasons. Usually the only demons that go out of their way to interact with humans are the ones that want to kill them, but most demons would just as soon leave humans alone."

Inuyasha considered this. Given the population explosion of humans and the way technology had advanced in leaps and bounds, he could see why most demons wouldn't want to be noticed by humans in his time. Normal, human forged swords might not do much damage to demons, but Inuyasha was willing to bet that guns would.

_If they're there, I really hope they don't come after the jewel shards. Once was more than bad enough._

Thankfully, the day passed uneventfully, with no sign of anyone else who wanted to kill them. But as Inuyasha had predicted, they didn't make it back to the village that night, though Kagome was of the opinion that they should make it back before lunch the next day.

_I can still go to school late, _Inuyasha thought. _Maybe showing up at school late will be less suspicious than not showing up at all, and will keep Ms. Sato from asking too many questions._ It was the best idea he could come up with, but he didn't hold out much real hope that Ms. Sato would be all that forgiving if he was late, not after everything else that had happened. He just hoped that she didn't go storming to the dojo demanding answers from Sensei, since she seemed to think this was his fault.

_Gah, Sensei. He's going to want to kill me for running off to the past like this__._

He wondered briefly if there was any way to put off that meeting, but realized there really wasn't. The longer he avoided Sensei, the worse it was likely to go.

_Maybe I should have gone to see him after I was suspended on Thursday. He'd have gone easiest on me then._

But if he'd done that, then Kagome would have found out in detail about his nightmares and his temporary loss of control, and for reasons he didn't want to examine closely, Inuyasha desperately didn't want her to know the details of it. She already knew more about it than he wanted her to.

Inuyasha was snapped out of his reverie when Miroku spoke to him. "Inuyasha, I was wondering if you might like to spar," he invited in a friendly tone of voice.

No, he really didn't. Inuyasha had seen enough of Miroku's fighting with his staff to know that the monk was much better with the weapon than he was, and had likely been training with it for years. Using staffs, a spar between the two of them could only have one possible outcome, and Inuyasha didn't relish the idea of losing. On the other hand, Inuyasha couldn't see any way of backing out while retaining all of his dignity.

"Okay," Inuyasha said, forcing himself to sound more interested in the idea than he actually was.

They moved to a spot a little outside of the camp so they would have a clear area for their sparing match. The others gathered to watch, as Inuyasha had figured they would, but that only added to the pressure Inuyasha felt to do if not well, at least not horribly. Knowing he didn't stand a chance against Miroku in a drawn out fight, Inuyasha decided to go on the offensive, attacking fast and hard. To his mounting frustration, though Miroku's expression had shown him to be startled by Inuyasha's initial onslaught, the monk handled it well, blocking all of Inuyasha's blows. Then in a move that Inuyasha couldn't quite follow, Miroku used his staff to sweep Inuyasha's feet out from under him, and Inuyasha landed on his back hard enough to wind himself.

Miroku stepped back from him when he fell and asked lightly, "You haven't been training with the staff long, have you?"

When he could breathe again Inuyasha sat up. Too embarrassed at the fact that he hadn't even lasted five minutes against Miroku to look at the others, Inuyasha focused on the monk instead. "No, not long."

"I could give you some pointers if you'd like," Miroku said.

It was on the tip of Inuyasha's tongue to refuse him, but he hesitated just a moment. Sensei was a great teacher, the best really, but Inuyasha wasn't in the future enough to have consistent lessons with him anymore, and he needed to improve his fighting. Turning down Miroku's offer would be satisfying for the moment, but in the long run would be harmful.

"I'd appreciate that," Inuyasha said.

Miroku smiled and held out a hand to help him up. As he did so, Inuyasha realized that this was a sort of peace offering. Miroku hadn't been blind to Inuyasha's dislike for him, and this was his way of trying to bury the hatchet.

_Maybe he isn't so bad after all,_ Inuyasha thought, and accepted his help rising.

Kagome clapped her hands together, clearly delighted. Smiling widely at Miroku, she said, "That's a wonderful idea! I'm sure with your help Inuyasha will improve quickly."

Inuyasha glared at the monk. _I hate him._

* * *

_I was so close to getting through to him,_ Miroku thought ruefully as he reflected on the events of the night before. It hadn't taken him very long at all to discern that Inuyasha admired Kagome, or that Inuyasha's animosity toward himself was rooted in Kagome's friendliness toward Miroku. The monk was fairly sure that Kagome's friendliness was simply a part of her nature, and that there was no intended flirtation underlying it, and while Kagome was indeed a lovely specimen of womanhood, Miroku had no interest in pursuing a woman that someone else was interested in. Unfortunately, Kagome seemed oblivious to Inuyasha's interest, as well as the way that her friendly gestures inflamed his more jealous side.

_Ah, well. Time enough to deal with that situation later,_ Miroku thought, putting the matter out of his mind for now. At this present moment, he had more pressing issues to consider. They had arrived at their destination just before lunch time and Inuyasha had returned to his own time by jumping down the Bone Eater's Well, a process that Miroku had found mildly fascinating. When Inuyasha had jumped down it, Miroku had thought he had sensed the faintest flair of spiritual energy, but once Inuyasha vanished so did the feeling and Miroku could sense nothing from the dry well to suggest it was anything out of the ordinary.

After Inuyasha had left they had continued to the village where Miroku was introduced to Kaede. Miroku saw a keen intelligence in the elderly priestess's one eye, and Miroku felt an immediate respect for her. It was not often that someone in their line of work lived to be her age, and usually those that could did so through great power or great cleverness.

While she prepared a meal for them, Kagome and Sango updated her on the details of everything that had transpired since they'd last seen her, including what they had learned of Naraku. Miroku was surprised to find out that Kaede was the younger sister of Kikyo, the priestess that Naraku had slain in his quest for the jewel. Kaede questioned him closely about Naraku, but unfortunately Miroku knew little more than what he'd told the others already.

"I believe your story," Kaede said over lunch, "but it is strange. If what you say is true, then Naraku had the jewel in his possession after injuring Kikyo. So why didn't he take it then? Why pit Kikyo and Kagome against each other?"

"I supposed he wished them to slay each other in order to defile the jewel," Miroku said. "But I must confess that if so, it was an inefficient plan. Kikyo and Kagome didn't have to come to blows in order to defile the jewel. It would have worked just as well for Naraku to have taken it and used it to do evil."

"My thoughts precisely," Kaede said. "It makes me think that getting a hold of the jewel was not Naraku's only aim. I believe he may have born a grudge against either my sister or Kagome."

Kagome's frown deepened at that. "I don't see how he could have had a grudge against me. I'd never heard of Naraku until we met Miroku. If I've ever met him, I didn't know it was him."

"It would be hard to know, since he's a shape shifter," Sango said.

"Well," Miroku said, "there is one way to tell. My grandfather reported that there was only one thing Naraku could never change about his appearance, and that was a large, spider shaped burn mark on his back."

"A burn mark, you say?" Kaede questioned.

"Is it important?" Miroku asked.

Kaede considered. "It just might be. Kagome, you can't think of any instance that may have been a meeting with Naraku, nor can I think of any for Kikyo. But I do know of one man at the time of this whole affair that wished for Kikyo's purity and goodness to be destroyed."

"Who?" Kagome asked setting aside her empty bowl.

Setting down her own bowl, Kaede rose. "Perhaps it would be best if I showed you."

Kaede led them a ways out of the village through a large clearing that ended at a cluster of low rising hills. As they walked through the clearing, Kaede spoke to them. "In the months before her death, Kikyo was caring for a badly injured man in a shallow cave in these hills."

"Why in a cave?" Shippo asked. "Why not back at the village?"

"This man was not from our village," Kaede replied. "His name was Onigumo, and he had done many terrible things in his past. But somehow or another, he had been gravely injured. Terrible burns covered his body as though he had been set on fire, and many of his bones were broken. I don't know how he survived long enough for Kikyo to find him, but he did. She took pity on him and cared for his injuries. Though he lived, he would never again be well enough to move on his own, so Kikyo did not consider him a threat, even when his true nature became known."

"His true nature?" Sango asked.

"I assisted Kikyo in tending to him," Kaede said. "His conversation when he was well enough to speak was disturbing. He made it very clear that he longed to see Kikyo in pain, or filled with fear or hatred."

By this time they had reached the mouth of a small cave in one of the hills. "This is where he was kept," Kaede said. "A few days after Kikyo's death, I came to check on him. I found that the cave had been burned out; the fire must have been very intense, for there was nothing left of Onigumo, not even bones."

Miroku could see how their conversation would have led Kaede to think of this Onigumo person, but there was still one glaring issue.

"But I thought Naraku was a demon," Shippo said. "What does Onigumo have to do with him?"

"That's true enough," Kaede said. "Onigumo was probably the most evil person I have ever met, but he was indeed human."

Still, it was an odd set of coincidences, a human who wished to see Kikyo filled with hatred that disappeared around that same time that Naraku made the first appearance that Miroku knew of, enacting a plan that would pit Kikyo against her closest friend. Miroku still didn't quite see the connection between the two, but his instincts told him that it bore looking into.

"We should examine the cave," he said, leading the way in. It seemed a normal enough cave at first, but then he noticed something odd at the back of the cave. There was one spot, roughly the length of a futon, where no grass or moss grew.

The other's quickly noticed it as well. "Why isn't there any grass growing in that one spot?" Sango asked.

"I do not know," Kaede said. "But that is the very spot where Onigumo laid."

There was something strange about that spot, other than the fact that no grass would grow there. Miroku took a step closer to investigate, and then he sensed it, the malevolent spirit of a demon. Waving his staff sharply over it to quell the presence, he snapped, "Stay back! I sense the presence of a malevolent demon's spirit!"

"A demon's spirit?" Shippo asked from his position of safety behind Kagome. "But how? Onigumo was human!"

"Could he have been evil enough to have attracted demons to him in death?" Kaede wondered.

"I've never heard of anything like that happening before," Kagome said.

"Nor have I," Miroku added. His eyes narrowed as he kept a watchful lookout on the spot, making sure the spirit did not try to do them some kind of harm. "But the feeling is of a spirit that has been here for decades, and I doubt that is a coincidence. It must be connected to this Onigumo character somehow."

Suddenly Kagome tensed and her head whipped around to stare back at the entrance of the cave. "Something is coming this way, and fast." She dashed for the exit and the others followed as closely as they could. When they exited the cave, they found a pack of three eyed demon wolves rushing them.

Miroku quickly assessed the situation. The demon wolves didn't look all that strong, but there were a lot of them, and neither Kaede nor Sango had brought their weapons with them. That meant he and Kagome were the only fighters they had.

Kirara transformed in a burst of flame and rushed forward to meet the wolves. _Make that three fighters then._

Kagome also rushed the wolves while Miroku stationed himself between the wolves and Sango, Kaede, and Shippo. By virtue of their numbers, some of the wolves made it past Kirara and Kagome, and Miroku braced himself for their rush. One leapt at him and he swung his staff at it sharply, hitting its neck hard enough to feel bone crunch before snapping his staff in another direction to land a hard blow on the ribs of another. The first wolf dropped and didn't rise again while the second wolf tried to dart around him and attack the others.

_No you don't!_

Moving quickly, he brought his staff to bear again, cracking it down on the wolf's head. It managed one more step before it toppled over onto the ground. Just as Miroku thought the battle might be ending, a new player entered the clearing. It was a hulking creature, standing twice Miroku's height and covered all over with fur. It had a wolf like snout with teeth as long as knives and glaring red eyes. Its gaze focused on Kagome.

"Are you the half demon, Kagome?" it snarled.

"I am," Kagome said. "Who are you?"

"I am the guardian of Hell, Rouyakan!" the demon replied.

"Rouyakan!" Kaede gasped, recognition lighting her expression. "But aren't you the gentle demon that guards the forest?"

Rouyakan didn't seem to hear her, his attention completely taken by Kagome. "I'm going to kill you!" he said. He opened his jaws impossibly wide and more three eyed demon wolves sprang from his mouth.

_There are too many of them!_

Individually the wolves were relatively weak, but Rouyakan had just spit out thirty of them, and there was no reason to assume he had a limit. If Sango and Kaede were armed and Shippo was out of the way, this might not be an issue, but given that they weren't this fight had to end as quickly as possible.

Making a quick decision, Miroku shouted, "Kagome, Kirara, out of the way!" He rushed forward as they sprang to the side, and raising his right hand, Miroku unleashed the wind tunnel. In moments all the wolves had been sucked inside. Miroku covered it just long enough to run closer Rouyakan and then unleash it again.

"Miroku, stop!" Kagome yelled, but Miroku ignored her, focusing on his target.

Rouyakan strained against the pull of his wind tunnel, but was being drawn inexorably closer. Suddenly, in a swift, unexpected movement, Rouyakan slammed his fists into the ground, raising a shower of earth that temporarily blinded Miroku. When it cleared, Rouyakan was gone.

Miroku covered his hand and stared grimly into space. "He got away."

Then Kagome was beside him, her clothes fluttering from her swift movement and her golden eyes flashing angrily. "What were you thinking, Miroku? You can't kill Rouyakan!"

Floored by this response, Miroku sputtered as he defended himself. "Rouyakan was trying to kill you, and would have killed the rest of us in the process! I was just trying to end the fight quickly."

"Didn't you hear Kaede?" Kagome demanded. "Rouyakan is normally gentle. For him to be attacking us, there must be something bad going on."

Before Miroku could formulate a response, he sensed it. A dark presence, filled with more hatred and evil than any other he'd ever felt. It was only a flicker, there for a moment and then gone, and though Miroku had never confronted the demon before, he felt an intense, bone deep certainty that he had just sensed the presence of Naraku.

"Naraku," he said, and Kagome's expression changed to one of alarm.

"What?" she asked.

Miroku turned his head to scan the woods as he replied. "I sense that Naraku is near."

"If you're right, that could explain Rouyakan's behavior," Sango said. "We know Naraku likes to manipulate people. Maybe he's manipulating Rouyakan somehow into attacking Kagome."

"That would explain why a normally gentle creature such as Rouyakan is acting so out of character," Kaede said.

"What do we do now?" Shippo asked.

"Now we head back to the village," Sango said. "If Naraku is behind this, you can bet there will be another attack, and I want my weapons."

"It would be a good idea to regroup and plan our next moves," Miroku said. "Let's go."

They started moving, and then stopped when they noticed Kagome wasn't following. "Kagome?" Shippo called.

She was staring into the distance, her hands clenched into fists so tightly her knuckles were white. Miroku could only guess that she was replaying the tragedy Naraku had caused fifty years ago in her mind. "Naraku," she said again, her voice tight with pain and hate. "I'm going to kill you."


	20. Chapter 20

Naraku's True Identity Unveiled

It was with no small amount of trepidation that Inuyasha returned to his own time through the well. It had suddenly occurred to him as he was preparing to come back that, aside from likely being subjected to questions about why he was late at school and the dreaded meeting he would have with Sensei that afternoon, Inuyasha would also have to face his mother and Gramps after running off without giving them any sort of warning. It was not a pleasant thought.

As Inuyasha approached his home, he saw Gramps coming in from another direction, probably taking a break from caring for the shrine in order to have lunch. Gramps caught sight of him, and his wrinkled face brightened. "Inuyasha, you're back!" Just as quickly as his enthusiasm had appeared, it drained away to be replaced by indignation. "What was the meaning of running off without telling your mother or me?"

"I'm sorry about that," Inuyasha said. "I was upset, but I shouldn't have done it."

"No, you shouldn't have," Gramps said. "Don't do it again." But Gramps could never stay angry for long, and his expression returned to one of congeniality. "Come on, let's get some food. Are you still planning to go to school today?"

Inuyasha nodded, falling in step with his grandfather. "I am, as soon as I finish eating lunch."

They entered the house and found Mrs. Higurashi putting the finishing touches on lunch in the kitchen. When she caught sight of Inuyasha, she gasped and rushed over to him, throwing her arms around him in a hug. That reaction alone left Inuyasha feeling guiltier about running off than anything she might have said.

She pulled back taking a deep breath, and then her nose wrinkled. "You're filthy," she said. "Did you bathe at all in the past?"

"I didn't really have a chance to," Inuyasha said. Smelling bad while traveling in the past just seemed to be sort of the norm.

"Well, you have time to shower before lunch," she said. "I'll have to pull a few more things out for there to be enough for all three of us. Just make it a quick one."

"Yes ma'am," Inuyasha said, and then went upstairs to deposit his things in his room and grab a school uniform to change into after he showered. He would have liked to have stayed in the shower for a while, but the thought of one of his mother's home cooked lunches waiting for him helped him be more willing to rush through it.

When Inuyasha came downstairs, he found food on the table and places set for three. He sat down and eagerly dug into the food; what Sango prepared for them on the road was good, but travel food simply couldn't compare to his mother's cooking.

"How was your trip?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

Between bites of food, Inuyasha gave them an abbreviated version of events. While telling the story, he remembered Miroku's suggestion to see if he could find any information about the jewel or events surrounding it that could help them in the past.

"Hey, Gramps," Inuyasha said. "Do you know any history or legends about the Shikon Jewel that might helps us out in the past."

Gramps stroked his goatee as he thought. "I'm afraid I know nothing specific enough to be of use, but I certainly don't mind doing some research into the matter."

Inuyasha grinned. "Thanks Gramps, I appreciate it." Noticing the time, Inuyasha stuck the last few bites of food in his mouth and swallowed. "I'm heading to school; I'm going to see Sensei after, and he'll probably keep me after class, so I don't know what time I'll be home."

"Okay dear," Mrs. Higurashi said. "I'll keep dinner warm for you if you're late."

Waving his thanks and his goodbye, Inuyasha left home and rushed to his school. Lunch had ended by the time he arrived, and he could hear his history teacher giving a lecture through the door. Inuyasha hated to go in during the middle of a lecture, but it couldn't be helped. He opened the door to his classroom, and the teacher paused to see who had entered. So did the students, and it was their reaction that bothered him the most. There was a moment of shocked silence at his entrance, with many of them staring at him nervously, and a few of the girls looking downright frightened of him. Then whispers started, spreading through the class like a ripple on a small pond. Inuyasha couldn't understand what they said, but Hojo must have heard some of it, because when Inuyasha looked at him his normally even tempered friend was actually glaring at a few people. Inuyasha found he didn't particularly want to know what was being said.

"Have a seat, Inuyasha," his teacher, Mr. Ono, said. He sent a stern look to the rest of the class. "The rest of you, settle down."

Inuyasha walked to his desk and he could feel the eyes of his classmates on him. It was an uncomfortable feeling.

_I should have expected this._

It only made sense that his classmates would talk and be wary of him after seeing him lose control and actually hit Ms. Sato. Even so, he'd been so caught up in thinking about how Sensei would react, he hadn't prepared himself for it at all, and to experience it unprepared was an unpleasant shock.

Inuyasha sank down in his desk and tried to pay attention to class, but his concentration was shot. Resigning himself to copying Hojo's notes, Inuyasha eventually gave up paying attention, and tried to concentrate on pretending that people weren't staring at him or whispering about him in hushed tones for the rest of the day.

It felt like the longest afternoon of his life, but eventually school did come to an end. While Inuyasha was still packing up his bag, Ms. Sato scurried into the classroom and made a beeline toward him. He wondered how quickly she must have rushed out of her last class of the day to get there so soon after the final bell rang.

"Why were you late to class?" she asked, not mincing words.

Inuyasha met her gaze, and noticed that she was wearing new glasses. The bruise he'd given her was still visible, but it was starting to fade. "I overslept," he said.

Ms. Sato pursed her lips into a thin line, and Inuyasha doubted she actually believed him. Whether she did or not, all she said was, "Your hair is longer than regulations allow. Cut it before tomorrow."

Inuyasha hadn't given much thought to his hair lately, but it was indeed past his collar now. "Yes ma'am," he said.

"I also expect you to stay after tomorrow so I can help you with your work," Ms. Sato said. "You have a test to make up this time, and some others coming up soon that I doubt you're prepared for."

"Yes ma'am," Inuyasha said, though he really wanted to protest. Not this again; staying after had helped cause that whole mess that had gotten him suspended in the first place, and something else cutting into his training time was not going to make Sensei any happier.

Hojo waited until they were outside of the school to say, "So, how was your trip back?"

"Okay, I guess," Inuyasha said. "We found another jewel shard. We also got a new team member."

"You don't sound very happy about that," Hojo observed.

"I don't like him," Inuyasha said.

"Why not?" Hojo asked, and unbidden and image of Kagome brightly smiling at Miroku rose up in Inuyasha's mind.

His scowl deepening, Inuyasha snapped, "I just don't, okay! He rubs me the wrong way is all."

Hojo held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay. Touchy. Just forget I asked about him." Hojo started rummaging through his bag then. "Oh, before I forget I made copies of all my notes for you. If you have any time to read over them, they should help you with your make up work." He produced the notes with a wide smile, and Inuyasha felt a bit of guilt for snapping at him. After all, Hojo was his best friend, and he'd had no idea that Miroku was a sore spot with Inuyasha.

Taking the proffered notes, Inuyasha said, "Thanks. I appreciate it."

"No problem," Hojo said. "I'll give you copies of today's notes in the morning. It didn't look like you were able to focus well this afternoon."

"I wasn't," Inuyasha admitted. Wincing, he added, "I didn't think about how people would react after last week."

"It'll blow over," Hojo assured him. "You know how school is. The next big scandal will happen and no one will remember this one anymore."

"Keh, a scandal bigger than hitting a teacher?" Inuyasha said.

Hojo's smile lost a few molars. "Well, I suppose that would take something big. Maybe it'll come out that one of the teachers is romantically involved with a student?"

"That's terrible!" Inuyasha said. "Why would you even think of a situation like that?"

"You have to admit, it would make people forget about you," Hojo said.

"And get someone fired," Inuyasha pointed out.

Hojo shrugged. "In a situation like that, wouldn't the teacher deserve to get fired?"

"Yeah, but it'd be better if it didn't happen at all," Inuyasha said.

"I suppose that's true," Hojo said.

"You suppose?" Inuyasha scoffed.

"That _is_ true," Hojo corrected himself with a sigh. "It was only a hypothetical situation, Inuyasha. No need to get so emotional over it."

"It was a bad hypothetical situation," Inuyasha grumbled. Then they turned down the street that Sensei's dojo was on, and Inuyasha found his footsteps slowing.

"Is something wrong?" Hojo asked.

"I never talked to Sensei before I went back this time," Inuyasha said.

Hojo winced with sympathy. "Ouch. Good luck dealing with him. I hope you survive."

"Me too," Inuyasha said, and they parted ways, Hojo continuing on to go home.

Taking a deep breath to fortify himself, Inuyasha made his way into the dojo. Sensei caught sight of him, and his expression immediately hardened. Striding over, he caught Inuyasha by the back of the neck and started dragging him off like a disobedient puppy. "Yoshi," he snapped at his assistant. "If I'm not done with him on time, start class without me."

That fact that Sensei was willing to be late to his own class was a sign that things were about to go very, very poorly for Inuyasha. Sensei dragged him into his office before releasing him. "What were you thinking?" he growled.

Inuyasha rubbed the back of his neck; Sensei's grip hadn't hurt, but it hadn't been exactly comfortable either. "About what happened at school or about not talking to you?" Inuyasha asked.

"About not talking to me," Sensei snapped. "There was obviously no thought whatsoever involved in hitting your teacher."

Inuyasha winced at hearing it spoken of so bluntly. It wasn't like he'd done it on purpose, but that might be the biggest part of the issue.

"I'm waiting, Inuyasha. Why didn't you come to me?"

The plain truth that Inuyasha almost couldn't admit to himself was that he hadn't wanted to be a disappointment to Sensei. Self control was one of his most important admonishments, and Inuyasha had completely lost it.

_I'll sound like a dumb kid if I say something like that!_

Going with a secondary but still valid reason, Inuyasha glanced away from Sensei and said, "I didn't want to deal with the lecture."

"So you thought putting it off would make it better?" Sensei asked. "You're an idiot sometimes, but you're not that stupid, Inuyasha. What's the real reason?"

Inuyasha managed to glare at him. "I'm telling you, that's all there was to it!"

"And I'm telling you that's bull," Sensei said. "I want the truth."

A confusing mixture of emotions bubbled up inside, and Inuyasha snapped, "What do you care? You're not my father, so stop trying to act like him!"

Sensei stiffened his face unreadable as the words hung in the air between them. Guilt surged through Inuyasha, though he couldn't say what for. It wasn't as though his words were untrue; Sensei _wasn't_ his father, not even his step father. But it was also true that Sensei had done a lot for him over the years, especially after his father's death. Inuyasha wanted to apologize for his outburst, but emotion made the words stick in his throat.

Sensei let out a long breath of air and then said, "True." His tone was so calm, it made Inuyasha cringe. "I'm not your father, but I don't have to be to care about you. So. What happened last week with your teacher?"

Was Sensei giving up on the question of why Inuyasha hadn't come to him?

"I fell asleep in class and had a nightmare," Inuyasha said, his voice subdued. "In the dream…in the dream my life was in danger, so when Ms. Sato woke me up by shaking my shoulder, I guess I just sort of reacted to what was happening in my dream."

"Have you had other dreams like this?" Sensei asked.

Inuyasha hesitated a moment before replying. "Yeah."

"And they have to do with your adventures in the past, don't they?" Sensei questioned.

"Yeah," Inuyasha admitted again.

"Sit," Sensei said pointing to one of two chairs meant for guests. Inuyasha obeyed and Sensei sat in the other guest chair instead of the one behind his desk. "Inuyasha, I want you to tell me everything that's happened to you in the past, and I don't want you to spare any details."

"Why?" Inuyasha asked.

"Because I can't help you if I don't know what's happened to you," Sensei said.

Why shouldn't he tell him? Inuyasha had already told Sensei the worst that had happened with Enju. So Inuyasha recited his story once more, wondering again how many times he'd have to recite it before everything was all said and done. Sensei was silent through the telling, only asking a question here or there where something was unclear. By the time Inuyasha finished telling his story, the class was almost over.

Inuyasha couldn't tell what Sensei thought about it all. "Any good advice for me?" he asked.

Sensei shrugged. "Don't fall asleep in school."

The words were so unexpected Inuyasha actually laughed. Sensei graced him with a small smile before continuing.

"I want you to tell me about your adventures when you get back to the present, Inuyasha," Sensei said. "I'll expect a report every time."

"Do you think that'll help?" Inuyasha asked.

"It certainly can't hurt."

"I guess not," Inuyasha said. Silence fell between them for a moment, so Inuyasha thought it might be a good time to give Sensei his other news. "By the way, Ms. Sato wants me to stay after school for the next couple of days to catch up on my work."

Sensei's scowl returned full force. "You _need_ to train. Geometry won't save your life in a fight."

"I know," Inuyasha said. "But it isn't like I can quit school without there being issues, so…"

Sensei grunted. "I suppose you can't."

"But I do have some good news," Inuyasha said. "The monk I told you about, Miroku, has offered to help train me with a staff while I'm in the past."

"That will certainly help," Sensei said. "But I'd still like for you to train here so I can keep a measure of your progress."

"I'll come whenever I can, I guess," Inuyasha said.

Sensei sighed. "I don't like it, but I suppose we don't have much of a choice about it at the moment." Sensei stood, and Inuyasha followed suit, realizing their talk was just about over. Glancing at the clock on his wall, Sensei said, "Class is ending now. You'd better head on home."

"Yes, Sensei," Inuyasha said. He left, ignoring the surprised looks of the other students when they saw him come out of Sensei's office. It wasn't any of their business what he'd been doing in there after all.

* * *

It took all of Sensei's years of discipline to put Inuyasha out of his mind so that he could give his next two classes the attention they deserved. He had to continue to use that discipline after his classes so he could eat the dinner Usagi had prepared and pay attention to her ceaseless chatter.

When he finished eating, Sensei said, "Usagi, I'm going to meditate for a while in the dojo. Don't stay up too late."

"Yes, Daddy," Usagi said.

It was only when he was back out in his dojo alone that Sensei allowed his thoughts to return to Inuyasha and he let the panic he'd been holding back surface.

_No wonder his nightmare was bad enough to make him lash out when he woke up._

The things Inuyasha had been through in the past weren't simply alarming, they were downright terrifying. The things he had to deal with were even worse than that Noh mask, and that thing had killed dozens of people. Investigations were still being done into that incident, and it was still mentioned on the news more nights than it wasn't. Not that the police would ever figure it out, and for once Sensei wished he wasn't in the loop when it came to that thing. Although he supposed it was better than being one the relatives of the dead people, because they would never know what had happened to their loved ones. A handful of his students had had relatives killed by that Noh mask creature, and Sensei didn't doubt that some of the students at Inuyasha's school had also had relatives killed by it.

Sensei shook his head to clear it of thoughts of the Noh mask. _Rabbit trail. That isn't the important thing right now._

Sitting down in a meditative pose, Sensei centered himself so he could focus. The important thing was what was going on in the past and how it was affecting Inuyasha. In the past Inuyasha was consistently facing life and death situations and that was something he'd never been prepared to handle. It was having a very clear affect on him, and not a good one.

_I don't know how to help him._

He'd been reading those psychology books he'd checked out from the library, but they didn't seem to be doing him much good if this afternoon's debacle was anything to go by. The books all made it clear that it was important to establish an atmosphere of unconditional warmth and acceptance. However one was supposed to go about doing that, it probably didn't involve dragging people around and yelling at them.

"_You're not my father, so stop trying to act like him!"_

Sensei breathed out, pushing aside the memory and the spike of pain that it evoked.

Clearly he did not possess the skills required to be a therapist. Nor did he have any experiences, discounting the Noh mask incident, that would allow him to relate in any way to what Inuyasha was going through now. Most of the fights that he'd been in had been in competitions, and even taking into account those that hadn't been, Sensei had never once been in fear for his life.

But Sensei did know of one person who'd dealt with life and death situations at a fairly young age. Honestly, he'd probably have better luck relating to Inuyasha than Sensei did. But Sensei was rather reluctant to let him in on Inuyasha's secret. Not because he thought it would be harmful for Inuyasha, but mostly because he didn't want Haruki to think that he had gone crazy.

_Can't be helped. After dinner tomorrow, Haruki is going to find out more about Inuyasha than he bargained for._

* * *

Kagome had volunteered to stand guard so that her human friends could get the sleep they needed. She should notice the approach of Rouyakan long before he arrived now that she was on the lookout for him, and the others were going to need to have had at least some rest so they could be at their best when the inevitable fight broke out.

Now it was the gray hour just before dawn and Rouyakan still hadn't returned for his second attack, making it seem that posting a guard had been an unnecessary precaution.

Soft noises sounded behind her, and Kagome was able to identify them without looking as the sound of Miroku, Sango, and Kirara approaching. "I'm surprised it was a quiet night," Sango said. "I expected Rouyakan to attack us again within a few hours."

Kagome turned to face them. They both looked rested, and Sango had changed into her armor so she wouldn't be caught off guard this time. "Same here," she said. "I guess luck has been on our side for once."

"I've been thinking," Miroku said. Kagome immediately gave him her full attention, as Miroku's observations had all proved to be very good so far. "There are clearly jewel shards involved in this whole affair with Rouyakan, and likely the only way we will be able to remove them from Rouyakan without killing him first will be with Inuyasha's assistance. Do you think you should retrieve him from the future?"

Kagome considered his words and then nodded. "You're probably right. If I go back now, he should still be at home."

She turned to head to the well, then stopped and turned back as a new thought occurred to her. "What if Rouyakan attacks while I'm gone? Will you two be able to hold him off?"

"How long will you be gone?" Sango asked.

Kagome thought for a moment. While Inuyasha was certain to be home at this time, he wasn't likely to be up. It would take at least a few minutes for him to get up and get dressed. "Ten minutes, tops," she said.

"I think we should be able to handle him for ten minutes," Miroku said wryly. "Especially since we're expecting him to attack us this time."

Kagome nodded. She didn't mean to underestimate them, but she was naturally worried. "Okay. I'll try to be quick."

She took off running for the well, glad at least that it wasn't too deep into the woods. It only took her a minute to get there, and she jumped down it without hesitation. As she made the transition from her time to the future, she briefly reflected that normally she'd be going there to have a training day with Sensei.

_I'll have to apologize for being absent so much later. For now, I've got other things to worry about._

Like Rouyakan going crazy and attacking people when he shouldn't be, and the possibility of Naraku showing his face so she could finally get some answers about everything that had happened fifty years ago, and get her revenge for what he'd done to Kikyo.

When she arrived in the future, Kagome decided it would be better not to use the front door. She didn't want to wake up Inuyasha's family and worry them unnecessarily. Instead, Kagome found a conveniently located tree outside of Inuyasha's window and hopped up that. Peering through the glass, Kagome saw dirty clothes scattered across his floor, and a number of books and papers piled on his desk. Inuyasha himself was tangled up in his blankets on his bed sound asleep.

Kagome tapped on the glass, but Inuyasha didn't even stir. Carefully working the tips of her claws under the window, Kagome pushed up and found that the window wasn't locked. It slid open with ease, allowing in a cool early morning breeze that ruffled papers on his desk and caused Inuyasha's eyes to blink open. Catching sight of Kagome, Inuyasha sat up and yawned. "Kagome? What's going on?" he asked.

For a moment, Kagome found it difficult to answer. When he was in the past, Inuyasha always slept in his clothes. At home it seemed to be a different case, as he wore no shirt, just a pair of loose fitting pants, and while it was true that Kagome had seen him in less, she hadn't really gotten a good look at anything because he'd been showing a lot that she hadn't actually wanted to see. Now she actually noticed the fact that his years of training had given him a toned muscular figure that was likely the envy of every guy his age, as well as plenty who were older.

"Um, Kagome?" Inuyasha said again.

Kagome's gaze snapped back up to his face, which was turning the faintest shade of red. She could feel her own face heating up as well as she realized how she'd been staring at him. "You need to come back now," she said quickly to push past the awkwardness of the moment.

"What for? What's going on?" Inuyasha asked while kicking off his covers and getting out of bed.

"We've been attacked by Rouyakan, a demon that is normally a gentle guardian of the forest," Kagome said. "We believe that Naraku may be using jewel shards to force him to attack us, and if that's the case then we need you to remove the shards to stop him."

Inuyasha scowled. "Is there anything that Naraku won't do to people?"

"I doubt it," Kagome said. "Miroku also thinks Naraku may be nearby. If we're lucky, we may be able to fight him and end everything now."

Inuyasha nodded. "Right then. I'll get dressed and meet you down at the bottom of the tree."

"Okay," Kagome said, and exited out of his window. A few moments later Inuyasha followed her down, now fully clothed. Though he hadn't taken time to brush his hair, which Kagome suddenly noticed was shorter now than it had been when she'd seen him the day before. Due to its shorter length, his hair stuck up every which way from sleeping. She kind of missed the longer hair on him.

_Stop it! Now is absolutely not the time to be thinking about Inuyasha's appearance! I have bigger things to worry about!_

"Ready?" Inuyasha said.

Kagome nodded. "Let's go."

They rushed to the well house, the first rays of dawn peeking over the horizon as they did so. They jumped down the well, the swirls of pink and purple light flaring up to greet them. Then they were back in the past, and the peacefulness of the morning was shattered by the roars of Rouyakan.

"Hold on to me," Kagome ordered, yanking Inuyasha close to her back. She barely waited for his arms to tighten around her shoulders before jumping out of the well and rushing toward the sound of the fight. Inuyasha swore as he tried to keep his hold on her, but Kagome didn't slow down. He'd be fine as long as he didn't go flying off into a tree.

In moments they made it to the edge of the village where Miroku, Sango, and a full sized Kirara were trying to keep Rouyakan and his wolves at bay, their efforts hampered by the presence of the saimyosho. Rouyakan was even larger than before, towering over the huts in the village, and his appearance more wolf like. He was lunging toward Miroku, who couldn't do much to stop him now that Rouyakan was so huge. Pausing just long enough to shove Inuyasha off, Kagome jumped high into the air and landed a kick on the side of Rouyakan's head hard enough to knock him off course and into the ground.

"Excellent timing," Miroku said.

"Inuyasha, the jewel shards!" Sango called. "Where are they?"

"In his forehead, I can see them!" Inuyasha replied.

_Time to finish this._

As Rouyakan pushed himself to his feet, Kagome lunged forward again, slamming her fist against Rouyakan's head. He jerked back with a howl, and jumping into the air Kagome repeated the attack. Rouyakan fell and landed on his back, and his wolves melted into smoke as consciousness slipped away from him. But thanks to his jewel shards he wouldn't be out long.

"Inuyasha, quickly, before he wakes up," Kagome said, looking back at him over her shoulder.

Inuyasha rushed forward, and Kagome shadowed him as he got near Rouyakan's prone form, just in case the demon was faking and tried something when Inuyasha got close. However, Inuyasha reached out and easily plucked two jewel shards from his head. Once the shards were gone, Rouyakan shrank down to a much smaller size, and his features changed so he looked less like a wolf and more like some kind of cuddly toy.

His eyes flickered open, now a bright shade of blue instead of the angry red they'd been before. He sat up and Inuyasha and Kagome stepped back. "Oh, thank you so much!" Rouyakan said. "Can you forgive me for attacking you? I didn't want to."

"Sure," Kagome said, relieved to see that Rouyakan was back to his normal self. Miroku, Sango, and Kirara approached as they spoke with Rouyakan. "Can you tell me who put those shards in you?" Kagome asked.

Rouyakan shuddered. "It was that evil demon, Naraku!"

"I knew it!" Miroku said. "Where is he?"

"Somewhere in the forest," Rouyakan said. "I don't know where."

Suddenly Inuyasha stiffened and his eyes went wide. "What's wrong?" Kagome asked.

He looked back at the forest. "I sense someone," he said, his voice tight with tension. "Someone with a lot of jewel shards."

_It's him._

Without waiting on another word or seeing if the others were with her, Kagome ran to the forest.

* * *

Inuyasha had never felt a presence like this before. Not that he'd been sensing the presence of others for very long, but he doubted he'd ever feel something like this again. The presence was heavy with malevolence and hatred, and the feeling made the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

He cursed when Kagome took off at a sprint without waiting on anyone, but Miroku wasn't too far behind her in running after Naraku.

"Come on," Sango said. She jumped onto the back of Kirara, and held out a hand to help Inuyasha up. Grasping her hand, Inuyasha swung up behind her and Kirara leapt into the air. It didn't take them too long to catch up to the others, who had by that time made it to a clearing. Toward the back of the clearing stood a demon whose figure was hidden by a white baboon pelt. Staring at the demon, Inuyasha was astounded by the number of jewel shards he could see. It was hard to tell for sure how many were there because the light from each jewel shard bled into the others, but there was easily more than twenty.

_No way. How does he already have so many of them?_

"Naraku," Kagome growled. "That is your name, isn't it?"

"So it is," said the demon, his voice low and silky.

"But you were once the bandit, Onigumo," Miroku said, stepping up behind Kagome.

_Onigumo? Who is that?_

"Very clever, monk," Naraku said. "I am not Onigumo, but I was born of him. In his lust for Kikyo, Onigumo made a deal with the local demons. He would allow them to devour him, and in return they would provide him with a functional body. Of that union of countless demons, I was created."

That was officially the creepiest birth story Inuyasha had ever heard.

"You're the one who killed Kikyo and caused her to seal me to the Sacred Tree," Kagome said. "Why? Why would you do something like that?"

Did it matter why? Couldn't Kagome see this guy was dangerous? There was no time to talk, she should just attack him!

Naraku laughed. It wasn't a pleasant sound; it was a dark sound, seeming to dim the morning light with its presence. "I suppose you won't be able to rest in peace until I tell you. Kikyo was weak. Her commitment to her cause was wavering, and her friendship with you, Kagome, only weakened her further. After she sealed you away, she could have used the jewel to save her life. It would have granted her wish, and in doing so it would have shown her the truth that the Shikon Jewel is most beautiful when it is tainted in darkness."

Inuyasha frowned. From what Naraku said, it sounded as though Kikyo had chosen to die rather than allow the jewel to be tainted with darkness that could be used to harm others. He didn't know how Naraku measured strength, but that didn't sound weak to him.

"Monster!" Kagome cried. Drawing the Tetsusaiga, Kagome rushed him and swung the sword. Naraku jumped out of the way, but the sword did slice into his baboon pelt. The pelt slipped away, but Inuyasha was unable to see Naraku's face because the demon had raised an arm to shield it. The only identifiable thing about Naraku that he could see was that the demon had long, wavy black hair.

Then Naraku seemed to pulse and a dark purple orb rushed outward from him.

"An orb of destruction!" Miroku cried. "Run!"

Kirara swooped down and caught Miroku by the back of his robes before flying off as quickly as she could. Looking back, Inuyasha saw that as the orb spread, all the trees within it were killed, their leaves dissolving as the barest touch of the purple mist within the orb.

"Wait, what about Kagome!" he yelled.

"She's half demon, she has a chance," Sango replied. "If we go in that stuff, we'll die instantly!"

Eventually the orb quit expanding, and Kirara placed Miroku back on the ground. Inuyasha watched intently for any sign of Kagome. Suddenly there was a surge of power, and with a howl a rush of wind blew away the mists of the orb of destruction.

"What was that?" Sango asked.

"Kagome," Inuyasha said. "It had to have been Kagome!"

Now that the deadly mists were gone, they started back the way they had come, only to find Kagome coming toward them. "What happened?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome shook her head dejectedly. "I was able to dispel the mists with the Tetsusaiga, but he got away."

Miroku placed a hand on her shoulder. Inuyasha glared at him for using such a familiar gesture with Kagome. "Don't worry. We found him this time, and we'll do it again. For now, we'd best get back to the village. Kaede and Shippo will want reports of what's happened, and the villagers will need to be reassured that they are currently in no danger."

"You're right," Kagome said. "Let's go."

* * *

AN: I have been very remiss in responding to reviews lately, and for that I apologize; it's been a busy month for me. But thank you to everyone who has taken time to leave a review! Your thoughts are always appreciated!


	21. Chapter 21

Return of the Demon Slayers

Kohaku took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. There wasn't really any way that this mission could go wrong. Even if he failed to slay the centipede demon he was after, Uncle Seiko would take care of it before it could do any harm to the villagers.

_But it would be really embarrassing if he had to step in._

Everyone had high expectations for Kohaku. After all, he was the son of Hayasaka, the famed leader of the demon slayers. Sango, at only sixteen, was already one of the best slayers in their village. It was a lot to try to live up to.

The bushes rustled and Kohaku focused on the task at hand. Thinking about other things while on a mission was a good way for a slayer to get themselves killed. With a high pitched shriek, the centipede lunged out of the bushes at him. Having expected the attack, Kohaku had time to dive to the side and roll so that he came back to his feet facing the demon. He threw his sickle, just like at practice. What he wanted to happen was for the sickle to slice cleanly through the centipede's neck and decapitate it. That wasn't quite how it worked out. The point of his weapon sank deep into the base of its skull and then got lodged into something, leaving it stuck in the centipede. The demon thrashed, maddened by pain, and as Kohaku had been holding onto the chain of his weapon, he suddenly found himself flying through the air.

He was tossed completely over the demon's head and writhing body, but he managed to roll as he landed, absorbing some of the impact. The one good thing about the situation was that he'd been thrown far enough and fast enough that the sickle was yanked out of the centipede demon. Kohaku yanked on the chain, and his sickle flew back to his hand. Before he could throw it again in another attack, the centipede's long tail swung around and caught Kohaku in the side, knocking him back into a tree. Kohaku hit his head against the trunk, not hard enough to knock him out, but definitely hard enough to see stars.

_Get up, get up! It could be coming for another attack!_

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his head and side, Kohaku pushed himself to his feet, but by the time his vision cleared completely, Uncle Seiko had already used his hand axes to finish the centipede demon off. He picked something up off the ground and turned to Kohaku.

"Are you alright?" he asked as he walked over to Kohaku. The scar that traced from above his right eye down the side of his face made his expression seem more stern than it actually was.

"I don't think anything is broken," Kohaku said, lowering his weapon. It was hard not to lower his head in shame as well. He had really been hoping he could do this without his uncle having to help.

Uncle Seiko examined the lump on the back of Kohaku's head. "You'll have a headache for a while, but you should be fine," he said. "Let me see your side."

Resigned to the examination, Kohaku pulled up his shirt. His skin was already darkening into what would be a truly nasty bruise. He winced as Uncle Seiko probed the area with his fingers.

"Nothing broken, good," Uncle Seiko said. "That could have been a lot worse."

"Sorry," Kohaku said, filled with shame. His first mission had been a complete failure.

"Not your fault," Uncle Seiko said. "The odds were stacked against you." He held out a hand and in his palm shown a small, pink, jewel fragment.

"Is that…?" Kohaku asked.

Uncle Seiko nodded. "It's a fragment of the Shikon Jewel. If we'd known this demon had one, you'd have never been given this mission in the first place."

Kohaku figured that was supposed to make him feel better, but it didn't. Uncle Seiko patted his shoulder. "All things considered, you did good Kohaku. Besides, most people don't finish their first mission without some help. I certainly didn't."

But Kohaku's father had, and so had Sango. He had hoped to live up to their legends.

"Come one then," Uncle Seiko said. "We'd better harvest what we can from the centipede."

Harvesting the useful parts of a demon was a grisly business, but Kohaku had grown up around such work being done, and so he didn't feel squeamish at all as he helped his uncle. Eventually they had collected as much as the two of them could reasonably carry. Tying up their packages they returned to the village, where Uncle Seiko informed the people that the demon had been slain.

"Thank you so much for your help," the village headman said. "Unfortunately, we have no way of paying you."

"Don't worry about it," Uncle Seiko said. "We were able to gather some useful items from the centipede demon, so we'll just call that payment instead."

The headman bowed deeply. "You have our eternal gratitude."

When they were out of earshot of the village, Kohaku spoke up. "You didn't mention the jewel shard to them."

Uncle Seiko shook his head. "The less said about it the better. Lots of demons are after the jewel fragments, some of them very powerful, not to mention the evil humans who would seek to use the jewel as well. It's better if people don't know we have it."

Kohaku nodded his understanding, but he frowned as he thought about his sister and the dangers she must be facing. It seemed risky to entrust something as dangerous as the Shikon Jewel to a priest in training like Inuyasha, but everyone seemed convinced that he was the only one who could possibly keep the jewel pure and safe.

"What are we going to do with it?" he asked.

"That's up for your father to decide," said Uncle Seiko. "But if I know my brother, he'll want to get it to that Inuyasha for safekeeping."

Going to see Inuyasha meant going to see Sango. Hope sprang up in Kohaku. Perhaps he'd be allowed to go with whoever was assigned to take the jewel shard to Inuyasha. Nothing made him feel better than spending time with his sister.

* * *

After the confrontation with Naraku, they had gone back to the village and informed Kaede and Shippo of all that had happened. They also explained to Inuyasha just who Onigumo was and why his existence was relevant.

"Humans can turn into demons?" Inuyasha asked. "I had no idea something like that was possible."

"There are old legends of humans turning into demons through various methods," Kaede said. "But I have never known of anyone in these times to have done so. I had thought it was nothing more than a legend."

"How do those stories usually end?" Shippo asked from his position in Inuyasha's lap.

"The ones that I have heard usually end with the human turned demon going crazy and killing their families," Miroku said.

"Cheery stories," Sango said.

Inuyasha glanced out the window and saw that the sun had climbed well up into the sky. "I'd better get going. I can't afford to be late two days in a row."

He set Shippo aside and waved at the others. "I'll see all of you later." He hurried back to the well and jumped down. When he made to his house he found his mother cleaning up after breakfast.

"Inuyasha, where were you?" Mrs. Higurashi asked.

"Sorry, Mom," he said. "Kagome got me early this morning. There was an emergency in my past and they needed my help. It's all taken care of now though."

"Well I'm glad you're okay," she said. "You'd better rush if you don't want to be too late to school."

"Right," he said and rushed up the stairs. He threw on his uniform and ran a comb through his unruly hair, and then rushed back down. He grabbed his lunch from his mother and waved as he ran off. "Bye, Mom!"

School had already started by the time Inuyasha arrived, but the first class hadn't ended yet. He made it to his class and hesitated just a moment before he opened the door. He hadn't forgotten the reaction of his classmates when he'd arrived the day before and he didn't look forward to repeat.

_Stupid, I'm not going to stand here scared of some idiots who have nothing better to do than gossip about things they don't understand._

Squaring his shoulders, Inuyasha slid the door to his class open. Ms. Sato only spared him a momentary glance before saying, "Take your seat, Inuyasha."

There were a few whispers as Inuyasha walked to his desk, but not as many as there had been the day before. Whether this was because people weren't as shocked anymore or because Ms. Sato was in the room, Inuyasha didn't know.

Other than people going out of their way to avoid Inuyasha, the school day went on like normal. When it ended Inuyasha was ready to escape, but unfortunately he had to stay after to work with Ms. Sato.

"Oversleep again today?" she asked him when the others had left.

"Yes, ma'am," Inuyasha said.

That was all she said about him being late. After what felt like ages, they finished going over the work and Inuyasha was able to leave.

_Should I go by Sensei's and tell him about what happened this morning?_

He had said for Inuyasha to tell him whenever he went to the past. If he hurried, he should get there before Sensei started eating dinner. Decision made, Inuyasha headed to Sensei's home.

To his surprise, when Inuyasha arrived at Sensei's home he found someone else at the door. It took him a second to realize that the man was the doctor who had patched up his shoulder.

"Inuyasha, isn't it?" he said. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Same here," Inuyasha said. He felt a moment of guilt because he couldn't remember the doctor's name.

"How's the shoulder?" he asked.

"Fine, thanks," Inuyasha said.

The front door opened revealing Sensei. If he was surprised to see the both of them he didn't show it. "Inuyasha, I wasn't expecting you," Sensei said. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Inuyasha said quickly. "I just wanted to talk a few minutes, but if you're busy I can come back later."

"Nonsense," Sensei said, stepping out of his house. "Haruki, I'll just be a minute."

The doctor nodded. "Certainly. I'll just step inside."

He went in the house and Inuyasha followed Sensei a few feet away from the door. "What's he doing here?" Inuyasha couldn't help but ask.

"It's Tuesday," Sensei said. "Haruki eats dinner here every Tuesday."

Inuyasha was surprised to learn that. He had realized that Sensei and Dr. Haruki must know each other given the way Sensei had been able to barge into his office after hours, but he hadn't guessed they were that good of friends.

"What did you want to tell me?" Sensei asked.

Quickly Inuyasha recounted what had happened that morning in feudal era. Sensei was frowning deeply by the end. "I don't like what I'm learning about this Naraku character," Sensei said. "There are few truly evil people in the world, but he sounds like one of them, and with every jewel shard he gets he becomes even stronger. Be careful of him, Inuyasha. Don't do anything stupid."

"I'll do my best," Inuyasha said. "But I'd better get going now. If I'm too much later Mom will start wondering where I am."

Sensei nodded. "I'll see you later."

* * *

Sensei was rather surprised that Haruki managed to not bring up Inuyasha's visit until after dinner when the two of them had retreated to talk in private.

"What did your student wish to talk about?" Haruki asked, trying to sound casual.

Sensei sighed. "Subtle prying was never one of your skills, Haruki."

Haruki snorted. "Like you have any room to talk."

Sensei nodded, acknowledging the truth of that statement. "There's no need to pry anymore though. I'm going to tell you what's going on."

Now Haruki looked genuinely surprised. "Really? That easily?"

"Not easily," Sensei said. "But I need your help."

Haruki frowned. "I'm listening."

"What I'm going to tell you is going to sound unbelievable, but I'm going to ask that you let me finish before you decide I'm crazy," Sensei said. He proceeded to tell Haruki an abbreviated version of what Inuyasha was dealing with in the feudal era and the effect it was having on him.

When he finished Haruki shook his head. "You realize that this story is impossible, right?"

"Not too long ago I'd have agreed with you," Sensei said. "But I've seen things that can't be denied."

"Like what?" Haruki asked. "What could you have possibly seen to prove a story as ludicrous as this?"

"You know those dozens of missing people?" Sensei asked.

"I'd have to be blind and deaf not to know about them," Haruki said.

"Inuyasha and I fought the thing that killed them," Sensei said.

Haruki was silent for a moment. "You can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious," Sensei said. "It was a cursed Noh mask that wanted a body of its own and ate people in its attempt to get one. It almost killed Inuyasha and myself; it probably would have if Kagome hadn't arrived in time."

"Kagome," Haruki said. "That's the half demon girl Inuyasha met five hundred years ago."

Sensei shrugged. "I told you it sounded unbelievable, but it is true. If you want to meet her, try stopping by the dojo early in the morning. She comes to me for sword training."

Haruki closed his eyes and took a breath. "Okay. Let's pretend I believe you. What exactly do you want my help for?"

"I'm worried about how these life and death events in the past are affecting Inuyasha," Sensei said. "He's been having nightmares, bad ones. Bad enough that last week he hit a teacher who made the mistake of waking him up while he was in the middle of one of his dreams."

"I'm not a psychiatrist," Haruki said, exasperation touching his voice. "My training doesn't cover mental and emotional trauma, just physical difficulties."

"I know that!" Sensei said. "But who else can I ask for advice? What psychiatrist can I turn to, exactly? I trust you, but no one else would ever believe this story, except perhaps if they met Kagome, and I'm not going to subject her to the kind of scrutiny that would result in. Besides, even if you aren't a psychiatrist, you have been in some life and death situations before, and I haven't. You could probably relate to Inuyasha better in regards to that than I can."

"I suppose," Haruki said.

"So you'll help me?"

Haruki sighed. "I'm still not fully convinced all this is true. But yes, I'll do some research and see what I can find that might be helpful."

"Thanks," Sensei said. "I really appreciate your help."

"You'd better," Haruki grumbled.

* * *

It was late when Kohaku and Uncle Seiko made it back to their village, and Kohaku wanted nothing more than to crawl into his futon and sleep. But there was still a report to be made, so his found himself sitting in front of his father while Uncle Seiko recounted the events of the day.

"So it had a jewel shard," Hayasaka said. "I suppose that explains why it suddenly became so aggressive."

"It would," Uncle Seiko said. "What do you want to do with the jewel shard? It wouldn't be safe to keep it here for long."

"I agree," Hayasaka said. "It must be taken to Inuyasha so it can be kept pure." He looked at Kohaku then and smiled. "How would you like to get to see your sister?"

Kohaku brightened. "Really? I can take it?"

"We'll both take it," Hayasaka said. "I'd like to see how she's doing myself. I trust you can look after the village for a few days, Seiko?"

"Certainly," Uncle Seiko said. "Tell that niece of mine I said hello."

"Of course," Hayasaka said. "We'll leave first thing in the morning, Kohaku, so you'd better get some rest."

"Yes, sir," Kohaku said, grateful to be dismissed. But even as he went to bed, it seemed that the aches and pains he'd collected that day didn't seem so bad.

_I get to see Sango!_

* * *

The morning dawned bright and clear, a beautiful day for traveling. Kohaku was thrilled to be setting out on this trip with his father, and not only because they were going to see Sango. As village headman, his father was a busy man and it wasn't often that Kohaku had his father to himself. So even though his bruised chest still ached, Kohaku had a spring in his step when they set out from the village.

"A great day for traveling, isn't it son?" Hayasaka said while smiling up at the sky.

"Yes, sir," Kohaku agreed. "How long will it take us to travel to the village that Inuyasha and Sango have been staying at?"

"About a day and a half, I believe," Hayasaka said. "Let's hope the good weather holds for the whole trip, eh?"

Kohaku nodded.

After a moment of silence, Hayasaka said, "So, you had a spot of trouble with your first mission."

Kohaku's face fell a little. He should have realized that topic would come up soon. "I'll do better next time," he said.

Hayasaka nodded. "I'm sure you will, and I'm sure you'd have done fine this time if the centipede hadn't had a jewel shard. But you must remember, Kohaku, in our line of business it only takes one mistake and there won't be a next time for you."

"I know," Kohaku said quietly.

"Don't be so glum," Hayasaka said. "I doubt if many of the kids would have handled those circumstances as well as you did on their first missions."

"I guess," Kohaku said. "But you and Sango would have done better."

"You can't compare yourself to your sister or me," Hayasaka said. "We both have years more experience than you do."

"Neither of you needed help on your first missions," Kohaku said.

Hayasaka chuckled. "My first mission involved a rat demon that was so old it had two paws in the grave already. It was nowhere near as dangerous as that centipede that you faced. As for Sango, well. I must admit that she is the most skilled slayer I've seen since my own father. But just because she excels at demon slaying doesn't mean that you aren't good as well."

"Yes, sir, I'll try to remember that," Kohaku said.

"Good," Hayasaka said. "The worst thing you could do would be to lose confidence in yourself. Then you won't be able to fight with your whole heart, and one day you'll really end up failing when it counts the most."

"What's the second worst thing you could do?" Kohaku asked.

"Have too much confidence in yourself," Hayasaka answered promptly. "That's when you end up making stupid mistakes."

From there the day passed pleasantly, and the weather did stay nice so when they camped that night it was still enjoyable. They rose with the sun and ate a quick breakfast.

"I can't wait to get to the village," Hayasaka said. "Perhaps we can convince your sister to cook some lunch for us, eh?"

"I do miss Sango's cooking," Kohaku agreed.

When they set out Hayasaka set a brisk pace, eager to reach their destination. But after they had traveled for about three hours, Hayasaka suddenly slowed and glanced around. Kohaku automatically slowed as well, and when he saw his father's grip on his tsuki nari spear, he found himself reaching for his own weapon.

Looking around, Kohaku tried to pick out what had made his father suddenly wary, but he could see nothing. There was no sound either; in fact, it seemed unnaturally quiet, with no bird or insect noises at all.

Then suddenly they rose up from behind, almost fifty demons in total. Individually the demons were fairly weak, but in those numbers it wouldn't take them long to finish off Kohaku and his father.

Hayasaka tossed the small drawstring bag containing the jewel shard at Kohaku. "Run! I'll hold them off!" Kohaku opened his mouth to argue, but Hayasaka snapped, "Now!"

Kohaku turned and ran, and he didn't look back even when he heard the sounds of battle starting. He didn't want to watch his father die.

* * *

Naraku didn't set foot on the battlefield until the slayer had fallen. The outcome had been inevitable, but the slayer had still done much better in the fight than he had expected. He'd managed to kill more than half the demons that Naraku had sent after him, and the rest were too stupid and frightened by the fight to continue after the boy.

Naraku studied the slayer's prone body. It was almost a shame for him to die. Someone with skills such as his could be an incredibly useful slave, if they could be made to obey.

"Perhaps…" Naraku said, and withdrew a shard of the Shikon Jewel. He never liked parting with his shards, but sometimes they were more useful in hands other than his own. Leaning down, he placed it in one of the many injuries that slayer had suffered before he had fallen. The jewel glowed briefly before his flesh closed as his wounds healed themselves. Finally the slayer's chest rose as he took a breath and his brown eyes flickered open.

"What's going on?" he asked.

Naraku smiled down at him. "Welcome back to the world of the living. I am Naraku, your new master, and I have a job for you."

* * *

Sango was patrolling the edge of the village. It didn't particularly need patrolling right now, but she needed to do something to keep busy. Since Inuyasha was in his own time today, Kagome had gone to the future to train some with his Sensei. That left her, Kirara, Shippo and Miroku stuck in this village, and she could only put up with Miroku's conversation for so long.

_Inuyasha wasn't kidding when he said this mission would take a while. With him having to travel to the future for days on end, this could easily end up taking months, or longer._

That was no good. The longer jewel shards were left out there, the longer evil demons and humans had to get their hands on them and wreck terrible destruction on the people.

_I wish he would just stay here until the Shikon Jewel was completely collected._

It probably wasn't a fair thought. Undoubtedly he had obligations in his own time that he needed to tend to. Still, would missing out on those obligations potentially cause people to die?

Sango snapped out of her thoughts when she heard something rushing toward her. She shifted her position so she'd be ready to attack with her hiraikotsu if necessary. But it wasn't a demon that burst out from the underbrush of the forest, but Kohaku.

"Kohaku!" Sango said, lowering her weapon. "What in the world are you doing here?"

He looked up at her panting for breath, and Sango saw tears build up in his eyes. "What's happened?" she demanded.

His hand trembling, Kohaku held out a small drawstring bag. "We found a jewel shard. Father and I were bringing it to Inuyasha, but we were ambushed by fifty demons. He told me to run."

Numbness swept through her as Sango tried to comprehend what Kohaku was telling her. Her father had faced fifty demons alone. He was an amazing slayer, but that was too many for any one slayer to face alone.

_No! He isn't dead, he can't be!_

Seeing that Kohaku was about ready to collapse, Sango said, "Come on."

Taking his hand in hers, Sango led him to Kaede's hut. "Kaede, can you watch my brother for me? I have to go."

"Certainly," Kaede said.

"What's going on?" Miroku asked.

"Kohaku and my father were bringing us a jewel shard when they were attacked by demons," Sango said. "He sent Kohaku on ahead while he fought them; I've got to make sure he's okay."

Miroku stood. "I'll go with you. You may need backup."

Sango wasn't about to turn down assistance when her father's life was on the line. She only wished that Kagome was here as well.

She tried to smile reassuringly at Kohaku. "Don't worry, Kohaku. We'll bring him back. Kirara, come on!"

Kirara dashed over and shifted into her larger form. Sango hopped onto her back and Miroku pulled himself up behind her. Kirara took off into the air and Sango focused on the ground below, searching for signs of her father.

_He isn't dead, he isn't dead!_

"I see someone over there," Miroku said pointing with his staff.

Sango looked, and even from the air she could recognize the unique shape of her father's tsuki nari spear, with its blade like a crescent moon lying on its back. Relief flooded through her. He really was okay!

"Take us down, Kirara," she said.

As Kirara started to descend to the ground, Hayasaka spotted them and stopped walking. Kirara landed in front of him and Sango slid off her back. "Father, you're alright!"

And then she froze because he was pointing his weapon at her, something he'd never done before. "Stay back, Sango," he said.

"What's going on?" she asked, finally noticing Hayasaka's expression. She'd never seen him look so haggard before.

"I died, Sango," he said. "The demons killed me. Then a demon called Naraku placed a jewel fragment inside of me that brought me back to life, but it also enslaves me to his will. He has ordered me to retrieve the jewel shard from Kohaku."

Sango's free hand automatically flew to the pouch containing the jewel shard that she'd attached to her belt. Hayasaka noticed the movement and he nodded. "I see. I don't expect you to just hand it over to me, Sango. We can't afford to let Naraku get any more. So here is my final order to you, as your father. Kill me, if you can."

Then she had no time to think as he lunged at her with his spear, and it was pure reflex that saved her as she automatically brought her hiraikotsu around to act as a shield. But she hadn't really been prepared for the attack and had had no chance to brace herself, so the force of his blow knocked her back. Hayasaka flipped his weapon around so the half tipped by a more traditional spearhead was pointing at her and he threw the weapon. Then Miroku was there, using his own staff to knock the spear off course.

"Father, stop it!" Sango yelled, finally finding her voice. "You have to break Naraku's control over you!"

"If I could do that, do you really think I'd be attacking you right now?" Hayasaka said. "I can't stop, Sango!"

The world seemed to be slipping away from Sango, and nothing made sense anymore. Her father was enslaved to Naraku, and because of Naraku's orders, her own father was trying to kill her.

"Then let's put an end to this," Miroku said, holding up the pouch the jewel shard was in.

_When did he get that?_

Miroku tossed the pouch to Hayasaka who easily caught it out of the air.

"What are you doing?" Sango demanded. "We can't let Naraku have another shard!"

"Do you want to fight your father right now?" Miroku asked.

Sango shut up because she had no response to that. Miroku grabbed her arm and pulled her over to Kirara and pushed her up on Kirara's back. Later Sango would be upset about his rough handling. Right now she had other things to be upset about. She looked back as Kirara took off through the air and saw her father retrieving his weapon before he turned and went back the way he had come. Tears blurred her vision as she made herself look away.

"I'm sorry, Sango," Miroku said.

"How could you just hand over the jewel shard like that?" Sango demanded, needing to lash out at something.

"Because if that fight had continued you would have lost," Miroku said firmly. "Your father was unable to hold back, and you were unable to fight at your full potential. I couldn't let him kill you. Besides, I didn't give him the jewel shard. I just gave him the pouch." He reached one hand inside his robes and pulled the jewel shard out. "See?"

Sango stared at him. "When did you have time to do that?"

Miroku smiled at her. "A master never reveals his secrets. Hopefully your father won't think to check inside the pouch until he has made it back to Naraku."

Pain lanced her again at the mention of her father and the reminder that he was now Naraku's slave. "How am I supposed to explain this to Kohaku?"

Miroku placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm here if you need me, Sango."

Sango didn't accept his offer of help, but she couldn't quite bring herself to outright reject it either.

* * *

AN: Fun fact, Uncle Seiko is based off of one of the demons slayers shown in episode 24.


	22. Chapter 22

The Lake of the Evil Water God

Part 1

It was kind of nice, Inuyasha reflected, being on time to school and being rested enough to stay awake the whole time. It meant there was nothing Ms. Sato could say to him during their after school tutoring session. It did mean that he had to put up with a full day of other students being freaked out around him, but life couldn't be completely perfect.

"I'm home!" he called out as he kicked off his shoes in his family's entryway. Walking into the living room, he paused in surprise at the sight of the unexpected person he found there. "Kagome? What are you doing here? Is something wrong?" On the days that she came to train with Sensei, she normally didn't hang around waiting for Inuyasha to get home.

"It isn't an emergency," Kagome said, "but yeah, something is wrong. We need to talk."

Inuyasha glanced over at Souta who was sitting on the couch. Undoubtedly he'd been pestering Kagome the whole time she'd been waiting for Inuyasha to get home. "Scram, squirt," Inuyasha said.

Souta pouted. "But, Inuyasha…"

"Go," Inuyasha said, pulling him up off the couch and giving him a light shove toward the stairs.

Souta stuck his tongue out at him but he went up the stairs, muttering, "Jerk."

Once he was sure Souta was gone, Inuyasha turned to Kagome. "So, what's up?"

"The slayers from Sango's village found a jewel shard," Kagome said. "Hayasaka and Kohaku were on their way to the village to deliver the shard to you, but they ran into an ambush set up by Naraku. Kohaku got away, but Hayasaka didn't."

Suddenly Inuyasha's legs didn't feel strong enough to support him anymore and he sank down on the couch. "Sango's father is dead?"

_Because of me. Sango and Kohaku lost their father because of me._

Inuyasha knew that horrible, gut wrenching feeling that came of learning one's parent was dead. He had felt it on the day he'd learned his father had been killed in a car crash by a drunk driver. He also remembered how much he had hated the drunk driver who had killed his father but walked away without a single scratch. Now Inuyasha realized what the driver must have felt when he'd sobered up and realized what he'd done. For the first time, Inuyasha pitied him.

Kagome shook her head, her golden eyes filled with sorrow. "It's worse than that."

Inuyasha didn't want to hear it. How could things get any worse? But he didn't have the right to turn away and not listen. "How?" he asked.

"He did die, but Naraku used a jewel shard to bring him back to life. That shard also keeps him a slave to Naraku's will," Kagome said. "Naraku's control over him is absolute; Hayasaka almost killed Sango to get the jewel shard back."

Inuyasha closed his eyes, fighting the urge to bury his face in his hands. Enslavement to Naraku was a fate infinitely worse than death. "They must hate me," he said.

"Why would they hate you?" Kagome asked. "This isn't your fault."

"Isn't it?" Inuyasha asked opening his eyes to glare up at her. "They were ambushed on their way to bring a jewel shard to _me_! How isn't this situation my fault?"

"You couldn't have known that they were going to find a jewel shard," Kagome said. "You didn't know they were on their way to bring it to you. You didn't know Naraku was going to find out about it. You didn't know he was going to ambush them. This _isn't_ your fault, Inuyasha, and Sango and Kohaku don't blame you. This is Naraku's fault, and he's the one that Sango and Kohaku blame."

A more rational side of Inuyasha knew that what Kagome was saying was true, but it didn't make him feel any less guilty.

After a moment of silence Kagome continued. "They're leaving in the morning to tell their village about what's happened. Miroku, Shippo, and I have decided to go with them to pay our respects for Hayasaka's sacrifice. I wanted to tell you in case you want come with us."

He didn't. Inuyasha didn't want to face the people who had known and loved Hayasaka. But once again he didn't feel he had the right to turn away, and this was far more important than school. "I'm coming."

Kagome nodded. "Are you coming back tonight or in the morning?"

"I'm not sure," Inuyasha said. "I'll have to talk to Mom first."

"Alright," Kagome said. "I'll be on my way then." She took one step and then suddenly turned and hugged Inuyasha. He stiffened at the unexpected contact and she pulled back. She smiled softly at him and said, "It'll be okay eventually, Inuyasha. You'll see."

Then she was gone, leaving Inuyasha sitting alone in the living room. When the front door closed Mrs. Higurashi stepped into the living room from the kitchen, and Inuyasha realized that from in there she'd have been able to hear every word they'd spoken.

She held her arms out to him. "Come here, Inuyasha."

It may have been childish, but Inuyasha suddenly found himself desperate for the comforting embrace of his mother's arms. Rushing forward Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and held on like a man drowning, while she rubbed his back the same way she had when he was a small child.

After a few moments of wordless comfort, she said, "Kagome is right, you know. This isn't your fault."

"It doesn't feel that way," Inuyasha said.

"I know it doesn't," she said. "But it is the truth. Keep repeating it to yourself, and maybe one day you'll be able to believe it."

Inuyasha finally let go of her and stepped back. "I have to go with them."

"I understand," she said. "You should go ahead and go tonight. You won't get much rest here tonight anyway."

Inuyasha nodded. "You're probably right. I'll leave as soon as I'm packed."

It was a subdued reception when Inuyasha arrived at Kaede's hut. Even Shippo, who was normally overly excited to see Inuyasha, only managed a half hearted hop into his arms. Sango and Kohaku had distanced themselves from the group with only Kirara for company, and Inuyasha understood their need to grieve privately.

Inuyasha settled in with the others and accepted Kaede's offer of a late dinner even though he didn't have much of an appetite. As she was getting the food for him, Miroku held out a hand. "Here, Inuyasha. You should have this."

Inuyasha knew what it was before he laid eyes on the jewel shard. He took it from Miroku, resisting the urge to throw it away. "How'd you manage to keep it?" he asked.

In low tones, Miroku recounted the confrontation between Sango and her father. "So he took back an empty bag to Naraku," Inuyasha said. "Naraku isn't going to like that."

"He won't," Miroku said. "But I doubt Naraku will make a move against us again for a little while at least. We're too on guard at the moment, and with all of us here we are ready for him or any other tricks he may try to pull. He'll likely want to wait until we've relaxed our guard a bit before striking again."

And until that moment came, he now had an expert demon slayer to help him track down and take even more jewel shards. Wonderful.

"You may wish to rest," Kaede said. "They will want to leave early in the morning."

Everyone took Kaede's advice, making their way off to bed. The ball of warmth Shippo made curled up against Inuyasha's side was more comforting than he cared to admit. He closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of everyone winding down slowly fade into silence. Then, when the others were asleep, Inuyasha was certain that when he strained his ears to listen, he could hear the sound of a boy crying.

* * *

In a mockery of the group's overall mood, the weather remained clear and beautiful for their trip to the slayer village. It seemed to Inuyasha that it ought to be at least overcast considering the tragedy that had just happened, but nature didn't appear to agree.

When they arrived Sango and Kohaku were immediately recognized and so the guards on the walls allowed them in with a warm welcome. As they entered, Sango called to one of them, "Where's Uncle Seiko?"

"Training grounds!" the guard called back.

Sango waved her thanks and led the way to the training grounds. The trek allowed Inuyasha to see more of the slayer village than he had on his previous visit there. It really was a unique place. There were people going about daily chores one would expect to see in any village, but there were also armed and armored slayers wandering around, as well as things like forges that were clearly designed to make things from the harvested pieces of demons they had slain. From the way the armed slayers that Inuyasha could see were wandering around in pairs, he guessed that they might be a part of the closest thing to a police force that he had seen in the feudal era yet.

The training grounds were near the rear of the village and divided up into various sections for different types of weapons training. Given the wide array of weaponry used by the slayers, there were at least a few people in each section of the training areas.

"Uncle Seiko!" Sango called in the direction of a group of men who were watching some of the younger slayers spar with each other. Several of them turned at the sound of Sango's voice, so Inuyasha wasn't quite sure which one of them was her uncle.

Then one of the men stepped forward, of average height and a muscular build. The top of his head was shaved and the rest of his hair was gathered up in a topknot. He also had a scar running from just above his right eye and down the side of his face that probably made him look extra threatening when he scowled, but at this moment it did nothing to diminish the happiness of his smile. "Sango, we weren't expecting you to come! And I see you've brought friends, but where's Hayasaka?"

"Uncle Seiko, we need to talk," Sango said, and something in her tone or expression must have told him that something bad was coming, because his smile immediately disappeared.

"Come on then," he said, and he led the group back to his home. There was a middle aged woman tending to a garden when they arrived. She was a little on the chubby side, her long black hair was sprinkled with gray, her hazel eyes were wide and expressive, and her face had the look of a person who was quick to smile. "Maho, we have guests," Seiko said to her. "Could you get us some refreshments?"

"Certainly," she said, pushing herself up off her knees. She smiled at them. "Welcome to our home."

Sango ran through some quick introductions, and then Maho was off to get their food. Seiko had them sit on the wide porch out of the sun.

"Now," he said once everyone had settled down. "What has happened?"

Sango told the story of what had befallen Hayasaka, and she remained remarkably composed for the telling considering she was talking about her own father. Maho returned halfway through the report and passed out food and drink, though by that time no one had much of an appetite.

When she finished her tale Seiko spoke. "This is grievous news indeed," he said.

"I'm sorry," Inuyasha blurted out, unable to stop himself from speaking. All eyes shifted to him, but Inuyasha bore up under the scrutiny. "I'm sorry," he said again. "This happened because he was trying to bring me a jewel shard."

Seiko shook his head before Inuyasha could continue. "Do not blame yourself for this tragedy, Inuyasha. No slayer expects to die old and in their bed. It has always been our fate to fall in battle against some dark creature." His expression darkened then. "His death could be borne if the fates required us to do so. This unnatural enslavement by the demon Naraku shall not be. Tell me, what do you know of this demon?"

"We know he was created fifty years ago by the merging of an evil human with a lot of demons," Inuyasha said. "He wants to collect the entire Shikon Jewel, and he has over twenty shards already. He's a shape shifter and can create an orb of destruction. He has no kind of moral limits that we're aware of. Am I missing anything?" Inuyasha asked.

"He's also adept at casting curses," Miroku said. "And he's patient and clever."

Seiko nodded. "A dangerous combination, all taken together."

"He has a spider shaped burn mark on his back," Sango added. "It stays even when he shape shifts, so that can be a marker for recognizing him. We haven't found any specific weaknesses for him yet."

Seiko nodded again. "Perhaps not, but he has created a new threat for himself. We slayers will not rest until Hayasaka has been freed of his enslavement to Naraku."

"Uncle Seiko," Sango said, "I know you'll have to call the elders together and tell them what happened to Father, but do you think you can do it without Kohaku or I being present?"

"Of course," Seiko said. "You and your friends are most welcome to stay the night here."

Sango shook her head. "Thank you, but I think we'll spend the night at home." She stood and motioned for the others to follow her.

When they made it to Sango and Kohaku's house, Kagome spoke up and asked, "Sango, what are you and Kohaku going to do now?"

"I'm going to stay with all of you," Sango said. "That's where I can do the most good. Kohaku is going to stay here, probably with Uncle Seiko and Aunt Maho."

"I want to go with you," Kohaku said in his quiet voice.

"We talked about that, Kohaku," Sango said firmly. "It's too dangerous for you to travel with us. It'll be better if you stay here."

"Shippo travels with you and he's younger than I am," Kohaku said.

"Shippo doesn't have anywhere else to go, or he probably wouldn't be traveling with us," Kagome said.

"He could stay with Kaede," Kohaku said.

Inuyasha scowled at that idea. "I'm not leaving him in a village with people that don't trust any demon at all." It wasn't really that he thought the villagers would hurt Shippo, or at least not physically. But Inuyasha didn't believe he'd really be accepted there either.

_Besides, I made a promise to Shippo's father._

"You're staying here, Kohaku, and that's final," Sango said. "I won't have you put in unnecessary danger."

Kohaku sulked, but he didn't argue anymore.

Sometime later, Maho and Seiko came by bearing dinner for them. "I spoke to the elders," Seiko reported as Maho passed out the food. "They chose to appoint me as the new headman."

"I figured they would," Sango said. "You'll be a good leader."

"I wish I didn't have to be," Seiko said, and the glimpse of sadness on his face was a reminder that Hayasaka hadn't only been Sango and Kohaku's father, but Seiko's brother as well.

"How long are you planning to stay?" Maho asked.

"We'll be leaving in the morning," Sango said. "Except Kohaku, he's going to stay here. Is it alright if he stays with the two of you?"

"Of course it is!" Maho said.

Sango smiled at her. "Thank you."

After dinner Seiko and Maho left. The group split up into different rooms for sleeping, and despite their circumstances Inuyasha found himself a little relieved that they didn't have to sleep on the ground again. Camping was generally enjoyable, but no one could claim sleeping on the ground was comfortable.

Just as Inuyasha was starting to drift off, he felt Shippo tugging at his shirt. "Inuyasha," he whispered.

"What is it, Shippo?" Inuyasha asked.

"You'd never leave me somewhere, would you?" he asked.

"Course not," Inuyasha mumbled. "Now go to sleep."

He felt Shippo wiggle just a little closer, and then they were both out like a light.

* * *

"Explain to me again why we have to take a different, longer route back?" Inuyasha grumbled. Their current route leaving the slayer village was much rougher than the route they had taken to get there, with more hills, and even some small but steep cliffs.

"We don't like having easy pathways to our village," Sango called over her shoulder. "We try not to take the same route more than a few times before switching to another."

"It's really inconvenient," Inuyasha complained.

"That's kind of the point," Sango replied.

"Look on the bright side," Shippo said. "Going back by a different route means we have a better chance of running into someone with jewel shards."

Inuyasha glared at him. "I don't want to hear about bright sides from someone who isn't even walking."

Shippo grinned nervously at him, and then hopped from Inuyasha's shoulder to Kagome's shoulder. Kagome patted him reassuringly and then sniffed the air. "There's a village coming up soon, towards the north. If you really want to rest, we might find a place there."

There were still hours of light left for traveling, and Inuyasha refused to be the one to slow their group down. "I don't need to stop," Inuyasha said.

"Actually, a break might not be a bad idea," Miroku said. "We don't have to spend the night there, but they may have a place for us to purchase a hot meal."

"That's sounds acceptable to me," said Sango.

"I'm okay with that," Kagome said.

"I'm always good with food," Shippo added.

Inuyasha just sighed. _Oh sure, when Miroku wants to stop everyone's agreeable with him._

They turned north, and after going up _another_ ridiculously steep hill, they found themselves looking down of fields that had been badly damaged. "What happened here?" Inuyasha asked.

"Looks like it was a bad flood," Kagome said.

Maybe he should have guessed that, because the fields were covered in mud and various deposits of rubble that villagers were working to clear, but he'd never seen the aftermath of a flood before. That one time he'd fallen asleep in the tub and flooded the bathroom didn't count.

"What were they flooded by?" Shippo asked. "I don't see a river anywhere. I mean, there's that big lake, but lakes don't flood places like this, not without heavy storms at least, and the weather has been really nice lately."

That was actually a really good question, but before Inuyasha could think on it any, his attention was distracted by a procession along a beaten path just beyond the ruined fields. The procession was led by four men that carried a palanquin that was covered with rich red curtains embroidered with gold colored threads. A palanquin like that looked like it ought to have been followed by guards, but instead was followed by another group of villagers that had the grim expressions of someone attending a funeral.

"That's an odd display in a village that was recently damaged by floods," said Sango.

"An odd flood and an odd procession," Miroku said. "I wonder if the two are related somehow."

"Why would they be connected?" Inuyasha scoffed.

"I have found that one odd circumstance in an area can truly be just that," Miroku replied. "But two or more odd circumstances in the same area are usually connected."

They were not the only ones paying close attention to the palanquin. The villagers who had been at work in the field paused when the palanquin went by and watched its progress. They spoke to each other, and though Inuyasha couldn't hear what they said, Kagome and Shippo clearly could, given the way Kagome stiffened and Shippo gasped.

"What is it?" Inuyasha eyes.

Kagome turned to him, her eyes flashing with indignation. "It's a child in the palanquin! They're going to sacrifice him!"

For a moment Inuyasha was certain he'd heard her wrong, the notion was so foreign to him. They couldn't possibly be about to practice human sacrifice, even if it was five hundred years in the past. Surely even in this day and age, such a practice could only be considered evil.

"That's awful!" Sango exclaimed. "How can they do something like that?"

Her words and indignation assured Inuyasha that this was not in fact the norm. "I say we find out!" Inuyasha said. He went down the hill and picked his way across the muddy field after the palanquin, ignoring the surprised exclamations of the workers he passed on his way to the procession.

"Hey!" he called out, getting their attention as he made it to what passed for a road for them. "What do you guys think you're doing?"

The men halted, probably more out of surprise than anything else. One of the men stepped forward, probably their leader, judging by the way his clothes were made of slightly better quality than everyone else's. "Who are you?" he demanded.

Before Inuyasha could respond, something hit the back of his head. He glared behind him and found Miroku stepping past him with a serene expression on his face, pretending he hadn't just whacked Inuyasha on the head with his staff.

"Forgive my hasty friend," Miroku said. "What he means to say is that we have heard of your trials that force you to sacrifice a child's life, and we would like to help you. I am a skilled monk; I can probably exorcise whatever evil spirit may be plaguing you and if I failed, my other friends are excellent at slaying demons."

The villagers glanced behind them, and Inuyasha saw their eyes widen with an alarm that he had come to recognize meant they had finally taken note of Kagome, and possibly Shippo who was riding on her shoulder.

"You say you slay demons, but it looks more like you travel with them," sneered the headman.

"All of my associates are trustworthy, whatever their species may be," Miroku said. Inuyasha didn't know how Miroku stayed so calm. He kind of just wanted to punch the guy for the insulting tone he used to speak of Kagome and Shippo, and then punch him again for being willing to sacrifice a child for anything.

"Besides, we are not plagued by a demon or spirit," the headman continued as if Miroku had not spoken. "We are protected by a powerful water god, and if he demands the sacrifice of a child, then that is a fair price to pay for his protection."

Inuyasha's grip tightened on his staff until his knuckles were white. He had never wanted to beat someone within an inch of their life so badly before, and he may have done it had Miroku not taken another half step forward, placing himself directly in Inuyasha's way.

"The life of a child is always an unfair price to ask," Miroku said. "Have you considered that this may not be a water god at all, but a water demon looking for an easy meal?"

The villagers seemed disturbed by Miroku's words, as well they should have been in Inuyasha's opinion. "Perhaps we should listen," an older man said.

"No, I won't," the headman said slashing his hand through the air. "How can I, when this time it is my son who is to be sacrificed? After sacrificing so many others, how can I in good conscience try to save my son?"

His son? They were going to sacrifice his own son and he wasn't going to do anything to try and save him? What kind of father did that? How could anyone willingly send their child off to die like that?

Inuyasha saw red, and suddenly he didn't care at all that Miroku was standing between himself and the headman. Moving forward, he used his elbow to knock Miroku out of his way, and before the villagers could fully comprehend what he was doing, Inuyasha used his staff to hit the headman in his midsection was a blow powerful enough to double him over, and then he hit him again across his shoulders, knocking him to his knees. Inuyasha would have kept going, but hands gripped his shoulders tightly and yanked him back, and there was enough strength in those hands that Inuyasha knew they must belong to Kagome. She was several times stronger than him, so she probably thought there was no way he could escape her grip, but it was hardly the first time he'd dealt with someone stronger than himself, and her hold didn't actually pin him down in any way.

Inuyasha stepped back to knock her off balance and dropped his staff as he'd need two hands for this. Grabbing one of her arms with both of his hands, he bent forward and yanked at the same time, sending her flying over his head. He wasn't worried about her getting hurt by the move. Kagome was too quick to do anything by land on her feet, and Inuyasha knew it.

But before he could resume his attack on the headman, Sango hit him on the back of his head with her hiraikotsu, and the pain of it was enough to snap him out of his blind rage. "Stop it, Inuyasha!" she snapped.

Other villagers helped the headman to his feet, eyeing Inuyasha with a range of emotions from fear, to anger, to awe in a few. The headman was definitely angry.

"How dare you strike me!" he thundered, one arm still wrapped around his stomach.

"You're the one about to stand back and let your son die," Inuyasha snapped back. "I don't think you have any room to talk!"

The headman pointed at him with a trembling hand, though whether it was trembling from pain or anger was unclear. "What we do is none of your business!" the headman snapped. "Leave our village at once, or it will be the worse for you! Our god will not tolerate you presence for long!"

Inuyasha sneered at his words. Demons were real, and magic jewels were real, so perhaps gods could be as well. But Inuyasha couldn't respect any being that demanded the sacrifice of a child, god or not. "I'd like to see him try and get rid of me."

"That's enough, Inuyasha!" Miroku said sharply. "We're going!"

They dragged Inuyasha off back down the path, and the procession continued its way as well. Jerking himself out of their hands, Inuyasha glared at the rest of them. "You can't seriously be planning to walk away from this place and let them sacrifice that kid!"

"Of course we aren't!" Kagome snapped, which wasn't usual for her. Then Inuyasha remembered that he'd thrown her, and realized that his action might actually have made her mad, even if it didn't hurt her. "But _we_ aren't stupid enough to try and start a fight with the village headman while he's surrounded by people that support him! Especially since we'd rather not kill anyone!"

Inuyasha winced. It did sound kind of like a stupid thing to do when she put it like that. "But he was just so eager to sacrifice his own son," Inuyasha protested.

"He was," Miroku said, cutting into the conversation with his calm tones. "Oddly so. Most parents would take any chance they had to save their child, no matter how slim. So why would the headman want to sacrifice his son?"

"He's a terrible person?" Shippo offered.

"He probably is," Sango agreed, "but I doubt that's the reason." She handed Inuyasha back his staff, which she'd apparently taken the time to pick up for him. "So, what's the plan to save the kid?"

Before anyone could respond, likely Miroku, a new voice spoke up. "You want to save the boy?" Startled, they all turned to see who had spoken; the voice had sounded like that of a boy between Souta and Kohaku's age, and the small figure staring up at them from under a reed mat confirmed that idea.

"Yes, we do," Kagome said.

"Then follow me," he told them, and scurried off down the road.

"This just got weirder," Shippo muttered, and Inuyasha couldn't help but agree.


	23. Chapter 23

The Lake of the Evil Water God

Part 2

The kid led them to a deserted area just outside the village before dropping his reed mat. He was scruffy looking, but that was hardly unusual for a boy who'd been outside all day. What was unusual was the bag of goods he dragged out of the bushes and dumped at their feet. Beaded jewelry, coins, fancy looking dishes, and bolts of fine silk spilled out on the ground.

"Here," the boy said. "Take your pick."

"Take our pick?" Inuyasha asked. "What for?"

"I'm hiring you," the boy informed him. "You can take however much of this stuff that you want. In return, I want all of you to slay the water god."

"Why do you want the water god dead?" Sango asked.

The kid rolled his eyes. "He's asking for child sacrifices! Why shouldn't I want him dead?" He shoved past them and started marching in the direction of the lake. "Come on, I'll show you where they deliver the sacrifices to."

During the short conversation, Miroku had gathered up all the spilled items with a remarkable efficiency. "This isn't the first time you've done something like this, is it?" Inuyasha asked.

"I am always paid for my services," Miroku responded blandly.

That wasn't quite what Inuyasha had meant, but he decided it would be better to let the matter go.

"So, who are your parents? And do they know what you're up to?" Kagome asked as they followed him.

"That doesn't matter," the kid said. "You should be focusing on your mission. The sacrifice will be collected in a boat and rowed out to the shrine in the middle of the lake. We should follow, and when the water god rises up to take him, then you will strike."

"You're the headman's son, aren't you?" Sango asked, and the kid froze. She nodded. "I thought so. That other child being sacrificed is a stand in for you. That explains why the headman was so eager to get him on his way."

The kid looked down, his fists clenched. "You're right. I'm Taromaru, the headman's heir. Six months ago we started having terrible floods, and our god told us that the only way to alleviate them was to sacrifice the eldest child of the chosen families. Every month a white arrow lands on the house of the chosen family, and they send their eldest child to the water god to be sacrificed. My father always said the sacrifice was necessary for the sake of the village, but then the arrow landed on our house and he told me to hide. He's sending one of my friends in my place, and I can't just let him do that!"

So the headman was trying to save his son after all, but only after he'd convinced people to allow five other children to die, and now he was trying to have a sixth child killed in his son's place.

_Still a horrible person._

"Don't worry," Sango said. "We'll save your friend. But first, I need a minute to change into my armor."

She walked back to the privacy of a small wooded area with large bushes for extra coverage, but Inuyasha noticed Miroku's gaze tracking her as she went. Inuyasha punched the monk's shoulder. "Don't watch, pervert!"

"That is an unfair accusation," Miroku said while rubbing his shoulder. "I am not a pervert. I simply appreciate the beauty of women."

"Without their permission," Inuyasha said.

"Not always," Miroku replied with a grin.

"Are you sure you're a monk?" Kagome asked, looking mildly scandalized by his words.

"Quite sure," Miroku said.

Sango returned, changed into her slayer uniform. "If you're all ready we should go," Taromaru said. He started off toward the dock, but Inuyasha grabbed the back of his shirt and dragged him back.

"Hold on a minute," he said. "Who said you were coming?"

"Of course I'm coming!" the kid snapped, glaring up at him. "It's my friend we're going to rescue!"

"No," Inuyasha said flatly. "You'll just get in the way, kid. We'll have our hands full enough as it is just protecting your friend. We don't need to worry about protecting you as well."

"He's right," Kagome said before Taromaru could argue. "You've hired us to save your friend, now please trust us to get the job done."

Taromaru looked down in defeat. "Fine. But you'd better save him!"

By this time darkness was falling, so they used its cover to sneak down to the docks. It looked as though whatever boat was used to take the child out to the shrine in the middle of the lake had come and gone, and the villagers had retreated back to their village. Luckily, they found a boat still tied to the dock that was just large enough to fit them.

As they sailed, Inuyasha thought about what Kagome had said to Taromaru. _Trust us to get the job done, she says. I wonder if we can._

It was true that they had faced down threats together before, but those had been more or less simple fights. This was a rescue mission, and it was incredibly different. This situation, more than any of the others, would require them to trust each other and to work successfully as a team. Inuyasha wasn't sure they could pull it off, but the alternative was unthinkable.

After what felt like an agonizingly long time, they arrived at the shrine. Sailing across the lake probably hadn't really taken all that long, but it had been long enough for things to go from sunset to full dark. As they approached the shrine's dock, they saw two guards standing in front of the shrine's large front gate. The guards were more or less humanoid in shape, but they had distinctly fish like heads, and from what Inuyasha could smell, a fish like scent too.

Kagome leapt out of the boat and knocked the guards out before they could raise an alarm. She turned to the others as they followed up behind her. "So, what's the plan?" she asked.

"It's hard to form a detailed one without knowing the layout of the shrine," Miroku said quietly. "But I think sneaking in would be best. We should keep the element of surprise as long as we can."

Inuyasha eyed the gate wondering where inside the shrine the kid was. Hopefully they weren't already too late.

"Okay then, this is the plan," Kagome said. "We sneak in and find the kid; in finding him, we'll probably also find this water god. Sango, you fly him out of here on Kirara so he'll be safe, and the three of us will take down the water god. Once you've dropped the kid off somewhere safe, come back and see if we need help."

It was the best plan they could come up with on short notice, and they didn't really have time to sit around and think up more plans if they wanted to save the kid. The front gate proved to be locked. Kagome probably could have just destroyed the gate, but rather than do so and give away the fact that they were there, she carried Inuyasha and Shippo over the wall while Sango and Miroku flew over on Kirara.

There were other guards present within the shrine grounds, but none of them seemed to be paying particular attention to the gate, and so they were able to sneak past them. _They really aren't good guards if they aren't noticing all of us._

When they made it to the shrine itself, Kagome's ears pricked forward. "No more time for sneaking!" she called over her shoulder as she took off into the shrine. Inuyasha didn't know what she had heard, but it must have been bad.

Luckily the building itself wasn't very large, so they didn't have far to follow her. Kagome burst through two sliding paper doors into what was probably the main room of the shrine. There were two guards in the room, but Kagome had knocked them out of commission upon her entrance. More alarming was the sight of the water god, a tall figure with abnormally pale skin, pointed ears, and wide, lidless eyes. One arm was stretched out to an impossible length, as though it was made of rubber instead of flesh and bone, and from the end of it the child they'd been sent to rescue dangled in the air.

Kagome drew Tetsusaiga without hesitation. "How dare you intrude on this sacred ground," the water god said, but Kagome didn't bother wasting words on him. She lunged with the Tetsusaiga, but he pulled out a golden trident from nowhere it seemed and blocked her attack. With terrifying ease, he shoved Kagome back, and the Tetsusaiga shrank down from its transformed state to its less impressive, smaller state.

_That is not good,_ Inuyasha thought.

"No one can hope to defeat the Trident of Amakoi, especially not a half demon like you," he said. "You shall die for trespassing on my grounds."

He raised the trident and then sharply rapped it on the ground. Power spilled out of it in waves, different from any other kind of power that Inuyasha had before sensed. It felt almost electric, and totally unstoppable. Following close behind was a wall of water, and Inuyasha only had time to take one deep breath before it hit them, submerging them under the water.

Inuyasha had never felt so completely helpless before as he did in those moments when the water tossed him about like he was nothing, spinning him around until he wasn't sure which way led to the surface. He completely lost track of the others, except for Shippo, who he could feel clinging to the back of his shirt with a desperate strength. His staff was torn from his hand, but he had no time to mourn its loss. At the moment he was more concerned with how he'd get to the surface, because he needed to breathe.

The waters stopped tossing him about, but he still didn't know which direction was up, and the burning of his lungs warned him that time was running out. Suddenly, Inuyasha recalled an important trick he'd learned in his first year of middle school, when it had been time for his PE class to have swimming lessons. His teacher had said that if for any reason they got confused while they were underwater and didn't know which way was up, they should go limp. Their body would naturally start to float to the surface, and then they would know what direction to swim in.

Hoping his old PE teacher was correct, Inuyasha went limp. His body did start to drift, so Inuyasha swam hard in that direction. Seconds later, Inuyasha's head burst through the surface of the water, and he gulped down air noisily. He could hear Shippo coughing behind him. "Are you alright Shippo?" Inuyasha asked.

"I'm okay," Shippo said, still clinging to Inuyasha's shoulders.

Glancing around, Inuyasha took stock of their situation. Somehow the water had swept them completely out of the shrine and back into the lake itself. Inuyasha had a feeling that the method involved had been less actually sweeping them over the walls and off the small island and more magical teleportation, but he didn't care to think about that too closely at the moment.

He spotted Miroku off a little ways to his right, and for a second he thought Miroku was swimming toward an outcropping of rock. Then he realized that Miroku wasn't swimming at all, but being towed flat on his back by two strange looking fish like creatures.

_I guess they're friendly if they're helping Miroku._

Hoping he was correct, Inuyasha started swimming toward the rocky outcropping himself. The fish creatures got Miroku on the rock and swam back to Inuyasha before he quite made it. They were the weirdest looking fish Inuyasha had ever seen. They were mostly red, and they had bright red human lips instead of a regular, lipless fish mouth. Their eyes were wide and held an intelligence he'd never seen in any animal. They also had something on their heads that looked rather like dark hair, but fish weren't supposed to grow hair, so it could potentially be the weirdest fins he'd ever seen. The color of their scales also shifted from red to blue just below their heads, almost giving one the feeling that they were wearing kimonos, and their trailing white fins only helped that impression.

"Um, hi?" Inuyasha said while treading water.

"Greetings," said one of the fish that probably weren't actually fish in a distinctly female voice. "Do you need help getting to the rocks?"

Deciding they could probably get him there faster than he could by swimming on his own, Inuyasha agreed. They slipped under his arms, and Inuyasha was careful not to hold on to them too tightly for fear of accidentally hurting them. As he'd predicted, they did tow him and Shippo to the rocks quicker than he could have managed on his own.

Shippo bounded off of Inuyasha's shoulders while he was pulling himself up on the rocks and dashed over to Miroku to check on him. "He's waking up!" Shippo called out, and Inuyasha could see Miroku stirring.

His violet eyes flickered open, and he pushed himself up into a sitting position. "Where are we?" he asked.

"Outside the shrine," Inuyasha said. He gestured to the two fish ladies. "They saved you from drowning."

Miroku's gaze flickered over to them. "You have my deepest thanks," he said.

"You are welcome," they replied in tandem.

If Miroku was surprised at them speaking, he didn't show it. Instead he glanced around, and then looked alarmed as he realized something. "My staff! I must have lost it in the water."

"Mine too," Inuyasha said. He hated that; his staff had been a gift from Sensei.

"We will retrieve your weapons," the fish ladies said and they slipped back under the water.

"So, where do you think the others are?" Shippo asked.

"Good question," Miroku said. "At the very least, I think we can assume they're not in the lake itself somewhere, or I'd imagine that these two would have saved them as well as us."

"Are they still in the shrine somewhere you think?" Inuyasha asked, glancing back at the island.

"It is certainly a possibility," Miroku said.

It was a possibility that worried Inuyasha. The water god's weapon was unlike anything he'd ever faced before, and as much as he didn't like to admit it, he was pretty well convinced that it was more powerful than the Tetsusaiga.

The fish ladies resurfaced with Miroku's and Inuyasha's staves in their mouths. Gratefully, they accepted their weapons from them.

"I must ask," Miroku said, "why exactly are you helping us? You appear to be servants of the water god."

"We are," one of them answered. "But we water sprites serve the true water god. Not long ago, Daija was like us, but through trickery he managed to imprison the true water god."

_Daija must be the name of the fake,_ Inuyasha thought.

Tears filled the water sprites' eyes. "It is terrible, what he demands of the people. The true water god would stop him, if freed."

"Where is the true water god imprisoned?" Miroku asked.

"If you follow the rocks to that outcropping, you will find the water god locked away," they said, gesturing to their right. Looking in that direction, Inuyasha saw the outcropping they meant. It wasn't terribly far away, but the rocks weren't consistently formed into an easy pathway. There would be some jumping involved if they went there, and a decent chance of slipping back into the water.

"Inuyasha, I think we should free the true water god," Miroku said.

"But what about the others?" Inuyasha asked. "Shouldn't we worry more about helping them?"

"This will help them," Miroku said. "Didn't you sense the power of that trident? It is a true god's weapon, and neither of us will stand a chance against it. Freeing the true water god might be the only way of stopping Daija."

His logic made sense, but Inuyasha still didn't like the thought of turning away from the others when they might be in a life or death situation. "Fine," he finally snapped, logic winning out against instinct. "But we'd better make this fast."

* * *

When she'd seen the water coming Sango had followed her first instinct and lunged for the boy. More than any of the others, he was the one that would need the most help to survive the coming flood, and when the water hit them she managed to catch hold of him. It seemed that Kagome had had a similar line of thought, as she also grabbed ahold of him as the waters hit.

Sango expected to be tossed about like a leaf, but to her surprise after the initial sensation of being submerged, all feeling of the water went away, leaving her feeling as though she floated in nothingness. Opening her eyes, Sango found that she, Kagome, and the boy were surrounded by a cushioning blue light that protected them from the water.

_But why?_

Then it hit her. The water god wanted to kill the boy, so of course he wouldn't allow him to be washed away by the flood. Since she and Kagome had grabbed hold of him, his protection had extended to them. Tightening her grip on the boy with one hand, Sango used the other to get her hiraikotsu ready for throwing. Given the lack of success that Kagome had had in attacking with her sword, Sango doubted her weapon would do much against him either. However, she was counting on the idea that the water god wouldn't be expecting an immediate attack when the water vanished, and it might catch him off guard enough to allow them to at least get some distance between them.

The water drained away and Sango shoved the boy into Kagome's arms shouting, "Go!" as she let her weapon fly. Kagome took off without arguing. As Sango had hoped, the water god hadn't expected the attack, and fell back with a startled hiss. As soon as the weapon returned to her hand, Sango turned and ran after Kagome.

She didn't have time to worry about what may have happened to the others in the water. Whether or not they were okay was completely out of her hands right now. The only one she had a chance of protecting at the moment was the boy.

_That would be easier if Kirara was here!_

She didn't hear footsteps pursuing them, so Sango hazarded a look back. The water god was indeed in pursuit, but his appearance had changed, so that now instead of legs he had the tail of a snake, and he was gaining on them quickly.

As he made it within striking range of Sango, she suddenly found her arms filled with the boy as Kagome dashed past her to block the trident with her sword. Sango assumed the blow would probably reverse the transformation of the Tetsusaiga again, but she didn't pause long enough to look. She kept running for the main gate, hoping that Kirara would come here to pick the boy up. Besides, where else was there for her to go on this small island?

Guards that they hadn't knocked out on their way into the shrine rushed together to block her path to the gate, unintentionally making themselves perfect targets for her hiraikotsu. Throwing her weapon while running and carrying a boy wasn't easy, but there was a reason Sango was considered one of the best slayers in her village.

The guards collapsed, and as soon as Sango caught the hiraikotsu, Kagome's arm went around her waist and she jumped, carrying Sango and the boy straight over the front gate.

"We're out of room to run," Kagome said as they landed at the beginning of the dock.

"Then we've got no other choice," Sango said letting go of the boy and turning to face the gate. "Stay behind us, kid."

She really didn't want to die like this, but as the gates burst outward, Sango couldn't see how they were going to survive.

* * *

Inuyasha was relieved that he managed not to fall into the lake on the trip over to the rocky outcrop where the real water god was imprisoned. He was only slightly annoyed that Miroku didn't fall in either. "So, where is the water god imprisoned?" he wondered out loud when they made it over.

"Hard to say," Miroku said. "It doesn't look like is much of anywhere to imprison a person on this island."

"Does this really qualify as an island?" Shippo asked. "I mean, it's really, really tiny."

"Guys, focus!" Inuyasha snapped. "The longer we take here, the more danger Kagome, Sango, and the kid are in!"

"Hello?" called a woman's voice. "Is someone there?"

_Wait, a woman's voice?_

"Ah, so it is not a water god, but a water goddess," Miroku said.

"Why do you sound so pleased about that?" Shippo asked.

"Would you just remove the seal and let me out of here?" the water goddess demanded.

Following the sound of her voice, they found a rock with a seal pasted to it. "Here we go," Miroku said, and pulled the seal off. There was a bright flash of light, and when the light faded they could see a small hole in the rock that hadn't been there before.

Leaning forward, they all peered into the hole and saw the water goddess. She was a beautiful woman, with pale skin, long, lustrous dark hair, and dark eyes. She was also about six inches tall.

"You are beautiful," Miroku said. "I've never done it with someone so tiny, but I'd certainly be willing to try."

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. "You did not just proposition a six inch tall goddess for sex. What is wrong with you?"

"Hey," the goddess snapped before Miroku could attempt to defend himself. "We don't have time for this! Get me to my shrine so I may take down that pretender."

Not willing to trust Miroku with her, Inuyasha held out his hand for her to climb into. Then he realized they had another problem. "Wait, how are we supposed to get back to the shrine, exactly?"

"That's a good question," Miroku said. "I have no idea."

The goddess sent them looks of disgust. "You came to rescue me without having a plan for getting off of this rock?"

"I can help!" Shippo said.

He hopped off of Inuyasha's shoulder and with a puff of smoke, transformed into the pink, balloon like creature he'd been the first time Inuyasha had seen him. "I can fly you over there like this!"

"Are you sure you can carry us?" Inuyasha asked doubtfully.

"I think so," Shippo said. "I couldn't do it for long, but I should be able to get you to the shrine at least."

Scrambling up on top of Shippo when he was basically a balloon while holding the water goddess in one hand and his staff in the other was difficult, but with Miroku's help, Inuyasha managed.

"Right," Miroku said while he and Inuyasha crowded together for balance on top of Shippo's overly rounded body. "Let's go to the rescue!"

_This has to be the stupidest looking rescue ever._

* * *

As he slithered towards them through the now broken gates, the water god hissed, "Now you shall die."

"Sorry," Kagome said, her hand resting on her hilt. "We don't feel like getting killed today, especially not by a pathetic worm like you."

He laughed. "And what do you think you can do to stop me? So long as I wield the Trident of Amakoi, your weapon is useless."

As he held the trident up high for a new attack, Kirara flew in from behind him. Her jaws closing around the staff of the trident, she tore the weapon from his hand and flew up high into the air out of his reach.

"No!" the water god cried. His whole form shifted then, turning into a gigantic white snake, much larger than he had been previously. He lunged upwards, suddenly able to reach Kirara due to his increase in size, and his jaws snapped closed around her middle.

"Kirara!" Sango screamed as the snake demon dove nose first into the lake, dragging Kirara and the trident under water.

Kagome jumped into the water after them, and Sango could only stand helplessly on the dock, praying that as a half demon Kagome could hold her breath long enough to reach them and offer some kind of assistance.

Suddenly the boy grabbed one of her hands. "Something else is coming!" he said.

Hating to look away from the water for even a second, Sango forced herself to look up. What she saw was so startling, it was almost enough to make her forget about Kirara's plight. Floating toward the docks on what appeared to be a gigantic pink bubble with eyes, were Miroku and Inuyasha, who had had to squeeze close together to fit on the thing.

"What on earth?" she wondered out loud.

As soon as the bubble made it over the dock, there was a pop and a puff of smoke as the bubble transformed into Shippo. Miroku and Inuyasha tumbled to the ground.

"Ouch! Shippo, you little brat, couldn't you have let us down easier!" Inuyasha snapped at him.

"Sorry," Shippo said from where he lay on the dock. "I could barely make it here."

"Sango, we found the real water goddess," Miroku said, standing up and pretending that nothing undignified had just happened to him.

"Where is she?" Sango asked.

"Here," Inuyasha said, holding up his free hand. For the first time, Sango noticed the tiny woman cradled carefully in his hand.

"Where are the others?" Miroku asked.

Sango's fear returned full force. "That snake dragged Kirara under the water, and Kagome went after them!"

"What?" Inuyasha asked. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

"Perhaps I could be of assistance," the goddess said. "Put me down, near the edge of the dock, please."

Inuyasha did as she said, and the goddess removed one of her earrings. Holding it over the lake, she said, "I command the waters to part." She dropped the earring in the water, and for one awful second nothing happened. Then the waters pulled away from the dock, revealing the scene below.

On the lake bed, the snake demon still held Kirara in its mouth, and she still held the trident in hers. It had wrapped its tail around Kagome, trapping her. But now Sango could help. Taking careful aim, Sango threw her hiraikotsu, severing the end of the snake demon's tail, but because she was aiming downward, her hiraikotsu became stuck in the mud. The demon screamed with pain, its jaws loosening just enough for Kirara to wiggle out of its mouth. But instead of flying up to the dock, Kirara toppled over and shrank down to her smaller size. Her injuries from the bite and being held underwater for so long must have been too much for her.

Kagome freed herself from the now limp end of the demon's tail and dashed over to Kirara. Scooping up the cat and the trident, she jumped up to the dock. The snake demon surged up after her, but Miroku placed himself in front of the others, saying, "I don't think so!"

He held up his uncovered right hand, causing the wind tunnel to open up. The snake was dragged into his hand and was no more.

Sango rushed over to Kagome and took Kirara from her. "Oh, no, Kirara," Sango said, her chest clenching in pain as she held the limp form of her friend.

"I think his bite poisoned her," Kagome said.

_No, no! I can't lose you too!_

"Young lady," spoke the goddess. "If you will return my trident to me, I can heal your cat friend."

Kagome started. "Who are you?"

"That's the true water goddess," Inuyasha supplied, cradling Shippo in one of his arms. "The snake demon imprisoned her and set himself up as her replacement."

Kagome held the trident out for her, and the water goddess looked just a bit ridiculous taking hold of the bottom of the trident when she was so undersized. But as her hand landed on the trident, a glow surrounded her and she surged upward until she stood at a normal height.

"Thank you," the goddess said before turning to Sango. She held the trident out towards them, and it began to glow. Kirara glowed in response to the trident, and after a moment both lights faded. "There," the goddess said. "Your friend should be fine now."

Sango hardly dared to hope, but then Kirara's red eyes flickered open. "Mew."

"Thank goodness," Sango breathed.

* * *

Inuyasha was happy for Sango that Kirara had been healed. She'd already lost a lot recently, she didn't need another loss so soon.

He shifted his hold on the sleeping Shippo to be just a bit more comfortable, and then noticed the boy standing uncertainly just outside their little group.

"Come on, kid," Inuyasha said. "It's time to get you back home."

His expression brightened, and everyone made their way to their boat, which had by some miracle stayed tied to the dock where they had left it.

"One moment," the goddess said as they climbed into it. "I believe the slayer needs something else restored to her."

She gestured once more with her trident, and suddenly Sango's hiraikotsu was floating on the surface of the lake. Sango fished it out of the water and turned to the goddess. "Thank you, for everything."

The goddess nodded regally. She seemed much more like a goddess now that she was no longer six inches tall. "It is the least I can do for you and your friends in thanks for freeing me. If ever you need my assistance, do not hesitate to ask."

As they sailed back to the shore, Inuyasha sank down in the boat, allowing the weariness of the late night and aftermath of the adrenaline rush wash over him. He could hardly believe they'd managed to do it. They had saved the kid, overthrown the snake demon, and restored the proper water goddess to her rightful place.

_I guess we aren't such a bad team after all._

* * *

**AN:** So, this is the end of Switched, but not the end of my project. You may or may not recall from the author's note I put on the first chapter that I'm going to be posting each season of Inuyasha as it's own story. The first chapter of the sequel, Changed, should be posted later today.


End file.
